(14) SPORT-SPECIFIC DIFFERENCES IN INTERLIMB ASYMMETRIES DURING THE ISOMETRIC MID-THIGH PULL IN COLLEGIATE ATHLETES

Purpose: The isometric mid-thigh pull (IMTP) can be used to measure interlimb asymmetries in force production, which may be associated with reduced athletic performance and increased risk of injury. While asymmetries have been studied in general populations, there is a lack of data comparing these asymmetries across collegiate sports such as football, basketball, and track. Therefore the purpose is to determine differences between peak force asymmetries as well as rate of force development (RFD) asymmetries at different epochs during the IMTP across three collegiate sports. Methods: This study was conducted with 138 collegiate athletes (n=138; Football=108, Basketball=14, Track=16) who performed bilateral IMTP assessments on two force platforms. The variables observed included peak force asymmetry percentage, net force asymmetry at multiple epochs (50ms, 100ms, 150ms, 200ms, 250ms), and RFD asymmetry at the same time intervals. These asymmetries were quantified using the equation (higher value- lower value)/total*100. Linear mixed models were used to determine the effect of sport on each asymmetrical measure, with football as the reference category. Body mass was not included as a covariate, which may influence the interpretation of findings. Results: The collected data exhibited significant differences between sports in interlimb asymmetry measures (p< 0.05). The peak force asymmetry was found in track athletes with a mean of 14.43%, while football had 7.57% and basketball had 8.78% (p=0.014). The force asymmetry for all measurements (50ms, 100ms, 150ms, 200ms, and 250ms) for all three sports exhibited significant differences (p< 0.05). Additionally, basketball athletes demonstrated significantly lower force asymmetry at each epoch compared to football athletes (p< 0.01). Finally, RFD asymmetries at each epoch had no significant differences between the three sports (p >0.05). Conclusions: It appears that interlimb asymmetry may be sport-dependent, which reflects the unique neuromuscular demands found in each sport. The greatest force asymmetries were displayed in track athletes, which may be important for performance optimization in the sport as many of these athletes competed in asymmetrical events such as jumping and hurdling. Practical Applications: Determining differences in asymmetries across these collegiate sports could provide greater context into the impact they may have on their respective sport as well as provide insight into the expected differences among these sports. Acknowledgements: None