LAUSR

The aim of the current investigation was to comparatively examine the kinetics and kinematics of supported and un-supported landings during the rugby union lineout. Eleven male lineout jumpers were tested under two conditions, ‘supported’ in which the lifters maintained supportive contact with the jumper until the jumpers’ feet touched the floor and ‘un-supported’ in which the lifters released the jumper once they had caught the ball. Kinematics were examined using an eight camera motion capture system and kinetics using a force platform. Differences between conditions were examined using paired t-tests. The findings showed the instantaneous loading rate (supported = 212.9±102.5 body weight (BW)/s and un-supported = 449.0±142.4 BW/s) and vertical velocity (supported = 2.7±0.4 m/s and un-supported = 4.0±0.4 m/s) at foot contact were significantly larger in the un-supported condition. The findings from the current investigation indicate that if the lineout jumper is un-supported by the lifters in returning ...