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Background: The inclusion of skateboarding in the Olympics suggests that athletes and coaches are seeking ways to enhance their chances of succeeding on the world stage. Understanding what constitutes performance, and what physical, neuromuscular, and biomechanical capacities underlie it, is likely critical to success., Objective: The aim was to overview the current literature and identify knowledge gaps related to competitive skateboarding performance and associated physical, technical, and tactical demands of Olympic skateboarding disciplines., Methods: A systematic scoping review was performed considering the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (Extension for Scoping Reviews) guidelines. Data sources were MEDLINE (Ovid), Scopus, SPORTDiscus, and PubMed. We included all peer-reviewed literature after 1970 describing the physiological, neuromuscular, biomechanical, and/or tactical aspects of skateboarding., Results: Nineteen original articles explored the physiological (n = 9), biomechanical (n = 8), and technical (n = 10) demands of skateboarding. No research explored the tactical demands of competition. Moreover, although competitive males (n = 2 studies) and females (n = 1 study) were recruited as participants, no research directly related skateboarding demands to performance success in competitive environments., Conclusions: Ultimately, what constitutes and distinguishes competitive skateboarding is unexplored. There is some evidence indicating aspects of the sport require flexibility and elevated and fast force output of the lower limbs, which may be valuable when attempting to maximise ollie height. Nonetheless, a lack of ecological validity, such as using static ollie tests as opposed to rolling, restricted our ability to provide practical recommendations, and inconsistency of terminology complicated delineating discipline-specific outcomes. Future researchers should first look to objectively identify what skaters do in competition before assessing what qualities enable their performance., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Context: Light lower-limb wearable resistance has little effect on running biomechanics. However, asymmetrical wearable resistance may potentially alter the kinetics and kinematics of high speed, enabling greater loading or unloading of an injured or rehabilitative lower limb., Design: A cross-sectional study design was used to quantify the influence of asymmetric calf loading on the kinematics and kinetics during 90% maximum sprinting velocity., Methods: Following a familiarization session, 12 (male = 7 and female = 5) physically active volunteers ran at 90% of maximal velocity. In random order, participants ran with zero (0) wearable resistance and with loads of 300 g (L300) and 600 g (L600) fixed to one shank. A nonmotorized treadmill quantified vertical and horizontal kinetics and step kinematics. The kinetics and kinematics of the loaded (L0, L300, and L600) and unloaded (UL; UL0, UL300, and UL600) limbs were compared., Results: Vertical step ground reaction force of the loaded limb tended to increase between unloaded and 300 and 600 conditions (effect size [ES] = 0.48 to 0.76, all P ≤ .12), while the horizontal step force of the UL tended to decrease (ES = 0.54 to 1.32, all P ≤ .09) with greater external loading. Step length increased in the UL in 0 versus 300 and 600 conditions (ES = 0.60 to 0.70, all P ≤ .06). Step frequency decreased in the ULs in unloaded versus 300 and 600 conditions (ES = 0.73 to 1.10, all P ≤ .03). Mean step velocity tended to be greater in the ULs than the 300 and 600 conditions (ES = 0.52 to 1.01, all P ≤ .10). Only 4 of 16 variables were significantly different between the 300 and 600 conditions., Conclusions: Asymmetrical shank resistance could be used during high-speed running to reduce or increase the kinetic loading of an injured/rehabilitative limb during return to play protocols. Asymmetrical wearable resistance could also be used to alter step kinematics in runners with known asymmetries. Finally, meaningful alterations in high-speed running biomechanics can be achieved with only 300 g of shank loading.