What I can't understand is why shoukd knees be straight? I always thought that was bad walking form and knees should always be bent, coukd you please explain the reasoning behind the straight knee?
The straight leg prevents use of the quadriceps to push the athlete off the ground. Consider running: the leg lands with the knee slightly bent. This stays bent or becomes more bent as the leg passes under the body before finally recoiling both elastically and through muscle action to push the runner forwards and up into the air. In some ways, the straight leg rule is more limiting than the contact rule in terms of legal technique. Landing from a low foot height in front of the body even on a straight leg has been shown to have less than 50% of the impact force found in runners.
What I can't understand is why shoukd knees be straight? I always thought that was bad walking form and knees should always be bent, coukd you please explain the reasoning behind the straight knee?
The straight leg prevents use of the quadriceps to push the athlete off the ground. Consider running: the leg lands with the knee slightly bent. This stays bent or becomes more bent as the leg passes under the body before finally recoiling both elastically and through muscle action to push the runner forwards and up into the air.
In some ways, the straight leg rule is more limiting than the contact rule in terms of legal technique. Landing from a low foot height in front of the body even on a straight leg has been shown to have less than 50% of the impact force found in runners.
Ram Ram coach