The Impact of Ankle Plantar-Flexor Muscle Strength on Sprint Acceleration in Floorball Players

Purpose: Speed is a crucial physical characteristic where each lower-limb ankle plantar-flexor (PF) muscle needs to generate significant force; however, there is limited evidence about the relationship between single-limb isometric, and reactive strength forms, and linear sprint. The aim of this study was to determine the impact of the maximal unilateral isometric strength of the ankle PF muscle and reactive strength on sprint acceleration performance. Material and Methods: Thirty-two male floorball players (mean [SD] age 20.3 [3.0] y, height 181.5 [8.5] cm, body mass 77.4 [12.2] kg, and body mass index 22.3 [2.8]) from 2 clubs in the highest division in Latvia performed 20-m linear sprint, unilateral 10/5 repeated jump (reactive strength index [RSI]), ankle-dorsiflexion range of motion, and isometric seated plantar-flexion strength tests, where all data were used for correlational analysis. Results: Unilateral RSI was associated with 20-m sprint time (r = -.52, P<.01) and average speed from 10 to 20 m (r = .72, P < .01). Relative PF strength was associated with unilateral RSI (r = .35, P < .05) and 20-m sprint time (r = -.36, P < .05), whereas ankle-dorsiflexion range of motion was associated with unilateral RSI jump height (r = .47, P < .05). Conclusions: Floorball athletes with higher unilateral RSI and isometric PF muscle strength tend to accelerate faster, but subjects with better ankle-dorsiflexion range of motion jump higher in vertical repeated jumps. These findings suggest that both reactive and isometric strength are key indicators for sprint acceleration performance in floorball athletes, providing coaches with tools to monitor and improve performance.