THE INFLUENCE OF WEARING A LUMBAR SUPPORT BELT UPON JAVELIN THROWING PERFORMANCE.

± 105 N) were filmed at 150 Hz throwing an 800g javelin from a polyflex athletic track with and without a lumbar support belt, to allow three-dimensional kinematic analysis. Two typical throws at similar run up velocities were analysed. Wearing the belt was associated with significantly greater peak velocity at the shoulder relative to the hip when the hyper extended torso flexed forwards to release the javelin (P=0.046). With the belt there was not a significant increase in the velocity of the arm segments or javelin release velocity, attitude angle, release height, though an insignificant increase of 1.45m in mean distance occurred (P>0.05) possibly due to javelin aerodynamic factors. KEY WORDS: back, javelin, kinematics, speed. torso, velocity. INTRODUCTION: There is a high incidence of injury in javelin throwers (Hurrion et al., 1998). This possibly arises from the maximal effort involved in throwing the javelin as far as possible. Many elite, national and recreational athletes wear lumbar support belts during training and competition to prevent injury and aid performance. This study analysed the influence of wearing a lumbar support on javelin throwing during the final delivery stride a