• Korean Journal of Applied Biomechanics
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• v.21 no.5
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• pp.645-652
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• 2011

The purpose of this study was to analyze, in real time, the glide motion and release motion of domestic athletes and gold and bronze medalists employing the glide technique for the men's shot put at the Daegu World Athletic Championship in 2011. In the glide motion, the Korean athletes had a relatively high body center and shot put heights and lager stretching angles for their hips and knees. In the delivery phase, which shifts to the release phase, the Korean athletes showed slower vertical body center and shot put speeds, and they changed the phase, to the release phase by using a small body angle. In the release phase, the Korean athletes showed differences in their projection speeds and vertical body center speeds. The world-famous players showed high angle speeds, which refer to the composition of the rotation force at the moment of release (body, hip, and shoulder line). In the release phase, the Korean athletes did not have fully stretched hip and knee angles, which might have negatively influenced the vertical speed. Because the Korean athletes showed relatively low projection heights and projection angles. it was found that they need to enhance the muscular power of their, throwing arms and lower limbs.

• Korean Journal of Applied Biomechanics
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• v.21 no.5
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• pp.511-520
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• 2011

The purpose of this study was to provide scientific information to track and field coaches and athletes through the analyses of the biomechanics characteristics of the top 4 sprinters in the men's 100 m final in the IAAF World Championships Daegu 2011. Twelve video cameras (Sony, Japan) were used to capture the mid portion of the race (40 m - 70 m) with a sampling frequency of 60Hz. Biomechanical variables including the right ankle, knee and hip angles, the trunk angle, and the velocity of center of mass (COM) in the running direction, were calculated with the Kwon 3D program (Visol, Korea). Correlation coefficients between the COM velocity and each variables were calculated using Matlab 2008a (MathWorks, USA) at an alpha level of 0.05. The findings indicated that Yohan Blake (JAM) showed greater range of motion at the ankle and hip. Walter Dix(USA) showed greater knee and trunk movement, and Kim Collins (SKN) showed more dorsi-flexed and extended trunk angles during the race. Finally, Christophe Lemaitre (FRA) showed more plantar-flexed ankle with a less trunk motion, throughout the analyzed race.

• Korean Journal of Applied Biomechanics
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.275-283
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• 2020

Objective: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect pf flexibility of hip flexor muscles on a conventional deadlift movement. Method: Eighteen healthy male were participated in this study and were divided into normal group (NG: age: 24.0±1.8 yrs, height: 174.5±2.37 cm, body mass: 74.4±5.5 kg, 1RM: 138.0±23.8 kg) and restricted group (RG: age: 24.6±1.7 yrs, height: 171.5±5.3 cm, body mass: 74.0±5.7 kg, 1RM: 137.5±18.3 kg) by Thomas test, which measure flexibility of hip flexor muscles. A 3-dimensional motion analysis with 8 infrared cameras and 3 channels of EMG was performed in this study. A two-way ANOVA (group x load) with repeated measure was used for statistical verification. The significant level was set at α=.05. Results: RG revealed significantly increased muscle activation in erector spinae on 70% and 90% of 1RM and decreased muscle activation in gluteus maximus on 90% of 1RM compared to NG (p<.05). For the muscle activation ratio for agonist to synergist, erector spinae showed the difference in 90% of 1RM while hamstring was observed differences in all loads (p<.05). Conclusion: Our results indicated that hip flexibility affects conventional deadlift movement. Therefore, it is necessary to assess the flexibility of the hip flexor muscles before performing the movement and, as needed, to train to address the lack of flexibility.

• Korean Journal of Applied Biomechanics
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.247-253
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• 2020

Objective: This study aimed to examine the effects of real-time visual feedback gait training on gait stability in older adults. Method: Twelve older adults participated in this study, being divided into 2 groups including a) visual feedback (VF) and b) non-visual feedback (NVF) groups. For 4 weeks, VF performed a treadmill walking training with real-time visual feedback about their postural information while NVF performed a normal treadmill walking training. For evaluations of gait stability, kinematic data of 15-minute treadmill walking were collected from depth-based motion capture system (30 Hz, exbody, Korea). Given that step lengths in both right and left sides were determined based on kinematic data, three variables including step difference, coefficient of variation, approximate entropy were calculated to evaluate gait symmetry, variability and complexity, respectively. Results: For research findings, VF exhibited significant improvements in gait stability after 4-week training in comparison to NVF, particularly in gait symmetry and complexity measures. However, greater improvement in gait variability was observed in NVF than VF. Conclusion: Given that visual feedback walking gives potential effectiveness on gait stability in older adults, gait training with visual feedback may be a robust therapeutic intervention in people with gait disturbances like instability or falls.

• Korean Journal of Applied Biomechanics
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.255-264
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• 2020

Objective: The purpose of this study is to develop new balance evaluation index that can discriminate fall risk factors and provide effective interventions for healthy elderly. In order to conduct this study, the balance assessment tools (TUG, mCTSIB, OLST, FRT and BBS) currently used in clinic were re-evaluated using biomechanical analysis. Method: The participants were healthy elderly people over 65 years old, n=26, age: 69.31±3.13 years; height: 154.00±4.12 cm, body weight: 56.13±6.04 kg. The variables are length of CoM-BoS, length of CoP-BoS, range of CoP, mean distance of CoP, mean frequency of CoP, root mean square of CoP, joint angle, ASM (%SL), CoP-CoM angle. Results: As a result of this study, the following items were included in the list of new balance evaluation index for the healthy elderly, showing differences in the biomechanical evaluation based on the clinical evaluation (Inclusion list: TUG, OLST, 8th assessment item of BBS (reaching forward with outstretched arm), 11th item (turning 360 degrees), 13th item (standing with one foot in front), 14th item (standing on one foot)). Conclusion: Based on the results, the new balance evaluation index for the healthy elderly determined through this study can be used to prevent the fall by evaluating the balance ability in various situations that can be experienced in the normal daily life of the healthy elderly.

• Korean Journal of Applied Biomechanics
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.43-53
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• 2012

The purpose of this study was to quantitatively examine the biomechanical variables of Fouette turns for expert and beginner ballet dancers and to determine the difference in the variables between the two groups. sixteen female ballet dancers participated in this study. They were divided into an expert group(age, $25.38{\pm}1.92$ years; height, $168.38{\pm}4.66$ cm; mass, $49.63{\pm}4.41$ kg) and a beginner group(age, $20.88{\pm}1.13$ years; height, $161.63{\pm}7.42$ cm; mass, $48.88{\pm}3.64$ kg) depending on their ballet experience. Descriptive data were expressed as mean ${\pm}$ standard deviation (SD) for all variables including the duration, displacement of the center of the body, velocity of the center of the body, angle of the body segments, angular velocity of the body segments, ground reaction force, lower extremity torque, muscle activity, body weight, age, and body mass. An independence t-test was conducted to determine how the following variables differed between the beginners and experts: duration, displacement of the center of the body, velocity of the center of the body, angle of the body segments, angular velocity of the body segments, ground reaction force, lower extremity torque, and muscle activity. All comparisons were made at the p<0.05 significance level. The results show that the experts scored high on the biomechanical variables, although all the variables were not significant. Significant differences were found in the angle of body segments, angular velocity of the body segments, lower extremity torque, and muscle activity(p<0.05). The findings of this study demonstrate that the experts have the required skill to make an improved Fouette turn. The findings may also help ballet dancers to learn and understand the Fouette turn.

• Korean Journal of Applied Biomechanics
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.17-24
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• 2012

This study is for providing fundamental data of sport biomechanics in GRF & plantar pressure of stepping foot of skilled & unskilled players' at the soccer instep shooting moments. Wearing Pedar-x of Novel, the study has drawn the following conclusion after measuring and analyzing the impact on the GRF and plantar pressure of stepping foot at the instep shooting moments. First, maximum vertical GRF showed higher in the skilled group than in the unskilled group. The results showed significantly different. This study reached the conclusion that the players in the skilled group performed faster and stronger stepping foot motions that the ones in the unskilled(p<.01). Second, since the plantar pressure of the skilled group appeared significantly higher than that of the unskilled, it has brought us to the conclusion that the skilled group performed faster and stronger stepping foot motions than the unskilled group (p<.05). Third, at the moment of instep kicking, the skilled group's average maximum plantar foot pressure of stepping foot was higher than the unskilled. Though the difference was not statistically significant, it can be concluded that the skilled group performed faster and stronger stepping foot motions than the unskilled group(p>.05). Fourth, for the COP moving route of stepping foot while instep kicking, the skilled people performed accurate and strong shooting motions directly toward the target direction with stable postures, no matter how it's left, right, front or back.

• Korean Journal of Applied Biomechanics
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.647-653
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• 2009

The purpose of this study was to investigate the differences between female and male ballet dancers in anterior cruciate ligament injury risk factors during the box drop landing task. Nine female and nine male collegiate ballet dancers participated in this study. Kinematic and ground reaction data were collected and combined with inverse dynamics to estimate the knee extensor and abductor moment. EMG data from the biceps femoris and rectus femoris were used to estimate the ratio of quadriceps-hamstrings muscle activity. No gender differences in anterior cruciate ligament injury risk factors were found during the box drop landing task. A significant relationship was found between female and male ballet dancers in the knee flexion angle.

• Korean Journal of Applied Biomechanics
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.75-83
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• 2006

The Purpose of this study was to compare the biomechanical difference of two soccer footwear. which will provide scientific data to coaches and players, to further prevent injuries and to improve each players skills. The result of this study can be summarized after testing the two types of soccer footwear with comparative transforming heel angles and also with a pressure distribution in running. When a player's foot first touched the ground, the average difference of in/eversion was between 1.2 and 3.1 degrees for the two soccer shoes. In regards to maximum inversion and eversion of foot, maximum tibial rotation, and maximum and total movement of foot, the condition of barefoot and the two soccer shoes showed a small difference from 1.5 to 3.5 degrees and the difference among the subjects of study wasn't constant. In regards to maximum velocity of inversion and eversion running in one's bare feet showed much lower inversion velocity in comparison to putting on two types of soccer shoes and comparison of the average. Among some of the subjects, after putting on the two types of soccer shoes exceeded $97^{\circ}/s$ in maximum velocity of eversion. In the maximum braking impulse(t=2774, p<.05) and propulsive impulse for antero-posterior direction, there was a statistically significant difference between the two soccer footwear at running. In the maximum braking force(t=3.270, p<.05) and propulsive force(t=4.956, p<.05) for antero-posterior direction, there was a statistically significant difference between the two soccer footwear at running.

• Korean Journal of Applied Biomechanics
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.81-90
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• 2007

The effort identifying positioning information of the moving object in real time has been a issue not only in sport biomechanics but also other academic areas. In order to solve this issue, this study tried to track the movement of a pitched ball that might provide an easier prediction because of a clear focus and simple movement of the object. Machine learning has been leading the research of extracting information from continuous images such as object tracking. Though the rule-based methods in artificial intelligence prevailed for decades, it has evolved into the methods of statistical approach that finds the maximum a posterior location in the image. The development of machine learning, accompanied by the development of recording technology and computational power of computer, made it possible to extract the trajectory of pitched baseball from recorded images. We present a method of baseball tracking, based on object tracking methods in machine learning. We introduce three state-of-the-art researches regarding the object tracking and show how we can combine these researches to yield a novel engine that finds trajectory from continuous pitching images. The first research is about mean shift method which finds the mode of a supposed continuous distribution from a set of data. The second research is about the research that explains how we can find the mode and object region effectively when we are given the previous image's location of object and the region. The third is about the research of representing data into features that we can deal with. From those features, we can establish a distribution to generate a set of data for mean shift. In this paper, we combine three works to track baseball's location in the continuous image frames. From the information of locations from two sets of images, we can reconstruct the real 3-D trajectory of pitched ball. We show how this works in real pitching images.