Introduction: This study examined lower extremity muscle activation latency during the push-off phase in ice hockey athletes with and without functional ankle instability (FAI). Methods: Ten athletes participated, divided into FAI and control groups based on the Identification of Functional Ankle Instability scale. Participants completed three push-off trials while wearing electromyography sensors on the tibialis anterior, fibularis longus, medial gastrocnemius, and gluteus medius. Results: The FAI group demonstrated a significant increase in muscle activation latency across all muscles tested (p<0.05). Discussion: These findings suggest FAI may impair skating biomechanics, highlighting the need for rehabilitation targeting neuromuscular control and future research on sport-specific interventions.
González et al. (Sun,) studied this question.