Sekiya Koike

A Study of Knuckling Effect of Soccer Ball (P106)

The aerodynamic properties and boundary-layer dynamics of a non-spinning or slowly-spinning soccer ball are not well understood. The purpose of this study is to discuss the magnitude and the frequency of the side force of non-spinning or slowly-spinning flight soccer ball, which called “knuckling effect ball”, using a high speed VTR image of a real place kick. The direct liner transformation method was used to obtain three dimensional coordinates of ball position. The magnitude and the frequency of the side force were measured by a digitizing software system in PC. The magnitude of the side force in real flight was measured to range from about 1 N to 8 N. Additionally, the frequency of the side force in real flight was estimated to range from 1.0 Hz to 3 Hz.

Kinetic analysis of the lower limbs in baseball tee batting

Abstract The purpose of this study was to investigate effects of the ground reaction forces on the rotation of the body as a whole and on the joint torques of the lower limbs associated with trunk and pelvic rotation in baseball tee batting. A total of 22 male collegiate baseball players participated in this study. Three-dimensional coordinate data were acquired by a motion capture system (250 Hz), and ground reaction forces of both legs were measured with three force platforms (1,000 Hz). Kinetic data were used to calculate the moment about the vertical axis through the body’s centre of mass resulting from ground reaction forces, as well as to calculate the torque and mechanical work in the lower limb joints. The lateral/medial ground reaction force generated by both legs resulted in the large whole body moment about its vertical axis. The joint torques of flexion/extension of both hips, adduction of the stride hip and extension of the stride knee produced significantly larger mechanical work than did the other joint torques. To obtain high bat-head speed, the batter should push both legs in the lateral/medial direction by utilising both hips and stride knee torques so as to increase the whole body rotation.

An Instrumented Grip Handle for Golf Clubs to Measure Forces and Moments Exerted by Each Hand During Swing Motion

An instrumented grip handle was designed to simultaneously measure the forces and moments exerted by each hand on the handle during golf swing. Eleven pairs of strain gages were attached on the surface of an aluminum bar inserted under separated grip covers. The device was calibrated under static conditions and revealed good agreement between applied and calculated loads. The output of the sensors was converted into forces and moments by resolving static equilibrium equations. A professional golf player participated in this study and performed golf swings with several clubs. Reflective-markers on the body segment endpoints and on the clubs were captured by VICON motion system with 8 cameras operating at 250Hz. The results obtained in this study were: (1) long axial load of shaft affected the sensor coefficients of the device, and (2) internal forces and moments that do not cause the motion of the club were observed in the swings.

Kinetic function of the lower limbs during baseball tee-batting motion at different hitting-point heights

ABSTRACT The aim of this study was to investigate the kinetic functions of the lower limbs at different hitting-point heights to provide key information for improving batting technique in baseball players. Three-dimensional coordinate data were acquired using a motion capture system (250 Hz) and ground reaction forces were measured using three force platforms (1000 Hz) in 22 male collegiate baseball players during tee-batting set at three different hitting-point heights (high, middle, and low). Kinetic data were used to calculate joint torque and mechanical work in the lower limbs by the inverse dynamics approach. The peak angular velocity of the lower trunk about the vertical axis was smaller under the low condition. The joint torques and mechanical works done by both hip adduction/abduction axes were different among the three conditions. These results indicate that hip adduction/abduction torques mainly contribute to a change in the rotational movement of the lower body about the vertical axis when adjusting for different hitting-point heights. In order to adjust for the low hitting-point height which would be difficult compared with other hitting-point heights, batters should focus on rotating the lower trunk slowly by increasing both hip abduction torques.

A comparison of kinetics in the lower limbs between baseball tee and pitched ball batting

In this study, the kinetic characteristics of lower limbs during batting were investigated by comparing batting off a tee with batting a pitched ball. Participants were 10 male collegiate baseball players who performed tee batting (TB) and batting using a pitching machine (MB; approximate ball speed: 33.3 m/s). Three-dimensional coordinate data were acquired using a motion capture system, and ground reaction forces were measured using three force platforms. Lower limb joint torques were obtained by inverse dynamics calculations. The results indicated that the angular velocity of the lower trunk was larger in TB than in MB for rotation. The swing time from stride foot contact with the ground to ball impact was significantly longer in MB than in TB. The angular impulses of bilateral hip adduction, pivot hip external rotation, and stride hip and knee extension torques were significantly larger in MB, suggesting that batters exert these joint torques earlier for pitched balls to handle time constraints by changing the rotation of the lower trunk in response to the unknown ball location and speed in MB. These findings will help to fill a gap in the literature and provide coaching insights for improving batting motion.

Modelling error distribution in the ground reaction force during an induced-acceleration analysis of running in rear-foot strikers

ABSTRACT The objective of this study was to develop and evaluate a methodology for quantifying the contributions of modelling error terms, as well as individual joint torque, gravitational force and motion-dependent terms, to the generation of ground reaction force (GRF), whose true value can be measured with high accuracy using a force platform. Dynamic contributions to the GRF were derived from the combination of (1) the equations of motion for the individual segments, (2) the equations for constraint conditions arising from the connection of adjacent segments at joints, and (3) the equations for anatomical constraint axes at certain joints. The contribution of the error term was divided into four components caused by fluctuation of segment lengths, geometric variation in the constraint joint axes, and residual joint force and moment errors. The proposed methodology was applied to the running motion of thirteen rear-foot strikers at a constant speed of 3.3 m/s. Modelling errors arose primarily from fluctuations in support leg segment lengths and rapid movement of the virtual joint between the foot and ground during the first 20% of stance phase. The magnitudes of these error contributions to the vertical and anterior/posterior components of the GRF are presented alongside the non-error contributions, of which the joint torque term was the largest.

Influences of heel gradient on functional roles of the support leg muscles in running

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