Sleep-push movement performance in elite field hockey champions with and without training specialization.

Objective: To investigate kinematic and muscle activity differences during the sleep-push movement in elite field hockey players. We hypothesized that players with specialized sleep-push movement training (specialists) would possess a lower center of mass (CoM) and enhanced reproducibility of muscle activations during the movement, compared to players without explicit movement training (non-specialists). Methods: Ten field hockey players of the Belgian national field hockey team performed the sleep-push movement (5 specialists and 5 non-specialists). Muscle activity and kinematic data were recorded using EMG to evaluate the reproducibility of muscle activations by cross-correlation analysis and power spectral features across the movement, while a motion capture system was used to assess kinematics. Results: Compared to non-specialists, specialists had significantly ( Conclusion: Sleep-push movements realized by elite players who are specialists in the sleep-push movement presented significant kinematics and muscular activation differences when compared to the sleep-push movements realized by elite players who were not specialists in such movement. Characterization of the specific movement and the related high-level performer's muscular strategies offers the possibility of translating sport science findings into functional training with concrete applications for coaches, players, and other key stakeholders for the continued development of the field.