Effect of tailwind conditions on step length and step frequency in sprinting: An experimental approach

Abstract

Tailwinds are theoretically known to reduce air resistance during sprinting, leading to increased sprint velocity. While the influence of wind speed on sprint performance has been extensively studied, its specific effects on spatiotemporal variables such as stride length and frequency remain underexplored. This study aimed to examine the effects of varying tailwind levels on step length and step frequency during sprinting using an experimental approach. Thirteen male collegiate sprinters completed 60-meter all-out sprints under three wind conditions: no wind (0 m/s), low tailwind (2.5 m/s), and high tailwind (6.0 m/s). The experiment was conducted in an indoor facility lined with 120 m of urethane rubber. Eighteen industrial fans and one large blower were used to create tailwind environments of low and high conditions. Sprint velocity and spatiotemporal parameters were recorded using a motion capture system and analyzed across conditions. A Friedman test was performed to examine the differences in each spatiotemporal variables under the three wind speed conditions. Bonferroni correction was used for post-hoc testing to adjust for multiple comparisons. The results demonstrated significant increases in sprint velocity in both the low (+0.95%) and high (+1.27%) tailwind conditions compared to the no wind (p < 0.05), whereas no statistically significant differences were observed in step length or step frequency. On the other hand, there were no statistically significant changes in step length or step frequency. However, individual analyses showed that either step length or frequency changed for each athlete, which contributed to the increase in speed. These results suggest that the increase in sprinting speed due to tailwind is not due to a uniform mechanism, but depends on the individual athlete's adaptive style.