Agreement between leg and ground reaction force vector orientation in forefoot and rearfoot running

There is limited information on the effect of foot strike angle (FSA) on the resultant ground reaction force vector angle (θR-GRF) and the leg vector angle (θL). Human participants ran on a treadmill with a forefoot strike (FF) and a rearfoot strike (RF) according to biofeedback criteria of their foot progression angle. Results show that the initial impact of RF running patterns had θR-GRF significantly more vertically oriented and more closely aligned with the θL, compared to FF running. The results provide new information for understanding the effect of FSA on running biomechanics.