A three-dimensional biomechanical comparison between turning strategies during the stance phase of walking

Two main strategies for turning exist, the step and spin turns. A three-dimensional analytical comparison between these strategies has not been reported in the literature. Establishing differences between the two strategies is important if providing gait-training advice to clinical populations. The study is the first to compare 90 degrees spin and step turns on the basis of three-dimensional kinematic and kinetic analysis. The turns were free of constraints, thus participants knew when to turn resulting in feed-forward control. Two separate and distinct spin turn sub-strategies were used, the 'ipsilateral crossover' and 'ipsilateral pivot'. These turns required increased range of motion (RoM) in the transverse plane and greater muscular demand than the step turn. The step turn provided a number of advantages over the spin turns, such as keeping a wide base of support, it did not require increased co-ordination, RoM out of the sagittal plane and moments were generally less than the spin turns and no more demanding than straight gait. Further work involving many more participants is required to validate these initial findings.