Abstract
Run-up velocity and take-off step technique influence long jump performance. We determined run-up velocity and jump distance of two athletes with transtibial amputation (TTA) who used a manufacturer-recommended stiffness running-specific prosthesis (RSP; 39.5 kN/m), and a less (36.0 kN/m) and more stiff RSP (43.9 kN/m) and eight non-amputee athletes who used a regulation run-up surface with a regulation (1630 kN/m), and two compliant (84.0 and 90.0 kN/m) take-off platforms. Athletes with TTA had no significant difference in maximum run-up velocity or jump distance between RSP stiffnesses, but jump distance was positively associated with run-up velocity (p = 0.002). Non-amputee athletes had no significant difference in maximum run-up velocity between take-off platforms but jump distance increased as platform stiffness decreased (p = 6.07 × 10−5) and as maximum run-up velocity increased (p = 0.001). Non-amputee athletes jumped 7% farther when they used the most compliant compared to regulation take-off platform and had the same run up velocity (p = 0.82) but jumped 16% further (p = 0.01) than athletes with TTA using the recommended stiffness RSP despite the RSP storing 45% more elastic energy than the most compliant take-off platform (p = 6.73 × 10−4). These results suggest take-off platform stiffness affects long jump performance in non-amputees.
Data availability
Our data and code can be accessed through the electronic supplementary material 41. LongJumpData.csv is a csv file of the data from the study. LongJump_Stats.rmd and LJgraphing.rmd are RStudio files of the code used for the statistics and to create the figures for the study, respectively. LongJump_Stats.pdf is a PDF version of the code. https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.24247159.
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Acknowledgements
We thank Angela Montgomery, CPO, for their invaluable assistance throughout our study. We thank the University of Colorado Boulder Track and Field team and Coach Lindsey Malone for donating their valuable practice time to participate in this study. We also thank Össur for donating some of the running-specific prostheses used in this study.
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AG contributed to conception and design of the study. KA acquired the data, performed the statistical analyses, interpreted the results, prepared figures, and drafted the manuscript. Both authors contributed to manuscript revision and read and approved the submitted version.
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Ashcraft, K.R., Grabowski, A.M. The effects of leg prosthesis stiffness and take-off board stiffness on long jump performance. Sci Rep (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-38100-x
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-38100-x
