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Updated: Sep 30, 2026

Diagnosis of Musculus Gastrocnemius Tightness - Key Factors for the Clinical Examination
Published on: July 7, 2016
Exact moment of a gastrocnemius muscle strain captured on video
John W Orchard1, E Alcott, T James
1South Sydney Sports Medicine, 111 Anzac Parade, Kensington NSW 2033, Australia. johnorchard@msn.com.au
Abstract:
A left gastrocnemius strain was sustained by an elite cricket batsman while he was taking off to run. The exact moment of injury, captured by a camera in the middle stump, appears to correspond to the sudden appearance of a deficit in the gastrocnemius muscle, seen through the player's trousers. The strain occurred when the entire body weight was on the left foot with the centre of mass well in front of the leg. The injury probably occurred close to the time when the gastrocnemius complex was moving from an eccentric to an isometric phase.

