Validating an inertial measurement unit for cricket fast bowling: a first step in assessing the feasibility of diagnosing back injury risk in cricket fast bowlers during a tele-sport-and-exercise medicine consultation

Using Inertial Measurement Units to Examine Selected Joint Kinematics in a Road Cycling Sprint: A Series of Single Cases

Sprinting plays a significant role in determining the results of road cycling races worldwide. However, currently, there is a lack of systematic research into the kinematics of sprint cycling, especially in an outdoor, environmentally valid setting. This study aimed to describe selected joint kinematics during a cycling sprint outdoors. Three participants were recorded sprinting over 60 meters in both standing and seated sprinting positions on an outdoor course with a baseline condition of seated cycling at 20 km/h. The participants were recorded using array-based inertial measurement units to collect joint excursions of the upper and lower limbs including the trunk. A high-rate GPS unit was used to record velocity during each recorded condition. Kinematic data were analyzed in a similar fashion to running gait, where multiple pedal strokes were identified, delineated, and averaged to form a representative (average ± SD) waveform. Participants maintained stable kinematics in most joints studied during the baseline condition, but variations in ranges of movement were recorded during seated and standing sprinting. Discernable patterns started to emerge for several kinematic profiles during standing sprinting. Alternate sprinting strategies emerged between participants and bilateral asymmetries were also recorded in the individuals tested. This approach to studying road cycling holds substantial potential for researchers wishing to explore this sport.

Accessibility of Motion Capture as a Tool for Sports Performance Enhancement for Beginner and Intermediate Cricket Players

Motion Capture (MoCap) has become an integral tool in fields such as sports, medicine, and the entertainment industry. The cost of deploying high-end equipment and the lack of expertise and knowledge limit the usage of MoCap from its full potential, especially at beginner and intermediate levels of sports coaching. The challenges faced while developing affordable MoCap systems for such levels have been discussed in order to initiate an easily accessible system with minimal resources.

Conversion of Upper-Limb Inertial Measurement Unit Data to Joint Angles: A Systematic Review

Inertial measurement units (IMUs) have become the mainstay in human motion evaluation outside of the laboratory; however, quantification of 3-dimensional upper limb motion using IMUs remains challenging. The objective of this systematic review is twofold. Firstly, to evaluate computational methods used to convert IMU data to joint angles in the upper limb, including for the scapulothoracic, humerothoracic, glenohumeral, and elbow joints; and secondly, to quantify the accuracy of these approaches when compared to optoelectronic motion analysis. Fifty-two studies were included. Maximum joint motion measurement accuracy from IMUs was achieved using Euler angle decomposition and Kalman-based filters. This resulted in differences between IMU and optoelectronic motion analysis of 4° across all degrees of freedom of humerothoracic movement. Higher accuracy has been achieved at the elbow joint with functional joint axis calibration tasks and the use of kinematic constraints on gyroscope data, resulting in RMS errors between IMU and optoelectronic motion for flexion-extension as low as 2°. For the glenohumeral joint, 3D joint motion has been described with RMS errors of 6° and higher. In contrast, scapulothoracic joint motion tracking yielded RMS errors in excess of 10° in the protraction-retraction and anterior-posterior tilt direction. The findings of this study demonstrate high-quality 3D humerothoracic and elbow joint motion measurement capability using IMUs and underscore the challenges of skin motion artifacts in scapulothoracic and glenohumeral joint motion analysis. Future studies ought to implement functional joint axis calibrations, and IMU-based scapula locators to address skin motion artifacts at the scapula, and explore the use of artificial neural networks and data-driven approaches to directly convert IMU data to joint angles.

Kinematic differences between left- and right-handed cricket fast bowlers during the bowling action

Background

Despite differences between left- and right-handed athletes in other sports, minimal evidence exists regarding biomechanical similarities and differences between left- and right-handed cricket fast bowlers performing an equivalent task.

Objectives

This study aimed to compare the kinematics between left and right-handed fast bowlers performing an equivalent task (i.e. bowling 'over the wicket' to a batter of the same handedness as the bowler).

Methods

Full body, three-dimensional kinematic data for six left-handed and 20 right-handed adolescent, male, fast bowlers were collected using the Xsens inertial measurement system. Time-normalised joint and segment angle time histories from back foot contact to follow-through ground contacts were compared between groups via statistical parametric mapping. Whole movement and subphase durations were also compared.

Results

Left-handed players displayed significantly more trunk flexion from 49%-56% of the total movement (ball release occurred at 54%; p = 0.037) and had shorter back foot contact durations on average (0.153 vs 0.177 s; p = 0.036) compared to right-handed players.

Conclusion

Left- and right-handed bowlers displayed similar sagittal plane kinematics but appeared to use non-sagittal plane movements differently around the time of ball release. The kinematic differences identified in this study can inform future research investigating the effect of hand dominance on bowling performance and injury risk.