How Klapskate Hinge Position Affects Push-Off Mechanics in Speed Skating

Abstract

In speed skating, the conventional skate has been replaced by the klapskate, in which the shoe can rotate around a hinge between shoe and blade. It has been hypothesized that the improved performance with klapskates vs. conventional skates can be attributed to the difference in the anterior/posterior position of the foot’s center of rotation relative to the ice. This study investigated the effect of the position of the foot’s center of rotation on push-off mechanics in speed skating. Eight elite speed skaters skated four 2000-m trials on instrumented klapskates at a fixed velocity. In each trial the hinge was placed at a different position between the 5th metatarso-phalangeal joint and the tip of the toes. 3-D kinematics and pushoff forces were measured to analyze push-off kinematics and kinetics. Shifting the hinge from the most posterior to the more anterior positions resulted in a delayed onset of foot rotation and longer duration of push-off. This delay coincided with an increase in angular displacement and peak angular velocity of the knee and hip joint, an increase in the flexing knee joint moment at the end of the push-off, and a reduction in work generated at the knee joint. Total work per stroke was similar for the various hinge positions. Besides the similar work per stroke, the observed effects are in accordance with the differences between klapskating and conventional skating. It was concluded that the position of the foot’s center of rotation affects the timing of foot rotation, and therefore the balanced pattern of segmental rotations. Although it could not be proven in this study, it was shown that this constraint could affect work per stroke and might explain the difference between klapskates and conventional skates.