[Purpose] The purpose of this study is to examine the effect of calf muscle massage on ankle flexibility and balance. [Subjects and Methods] The study’s subjects were 32 healthy college students, divided into two groups according to the massage methods applied. Both groups received five-minutes of massage to each calf, making a total of ten minutes. Massage group A received effleurage, tapotement and pressure, and massage group B received effleurage, friction and petrissage. The functional reaching test and the modified one leg standing test were performed to measure the flexibility and balance of the ankles both before and after the massage application. [Results] In the functional reaching test performed after the calf muscle massage intervention, both groups showed significant increases. However, no significant differences were found between the two groups. In the modified one leg standing test, massage group A showed a significant increase in flexibility and balance after the intervention only when the left foot was used for support. Massage group B showed a significant increase when each foot was used for support. A significant difference between the groups was only observed only when the left foot was used for support. [Conclusion] Calf muscle massage may be effective for enhancing the flexibility and balance function of the ankle joint. In particular, a combined application of friction and petrissage massage techniques may be more effective for increasing ankle joint flexibility. Therefore, the application of calf massage can be considered an appropriate method for improving balancing ability.

Abstract. [Purpose] This study conducted a 3-dimensional kinematic analysis in order to examine changes in the movements of the lower limb joints during simulated skiing, to prevent skiing-related injuries.[Subjects] The participants (8 males, average age: 30.3 ± 3.0 years, average height: 178.5 ± 3.9 cm, average weight: 79.9 ± 3.4 kg, average career: 7.5 ± 1.9 years) held a certificate issued by the Korea Ski Instructors Association.[Methods] This experiment was conducted using a motion analysis system which recorded the subjects training on a ski simulator. The hip, knee and ankle joints' ranges of angles were measured in the sagittal and coronal planes during simulated skiing. The paired t-test was conducted in order to examine changes in the lower limb joint motions.[Results] After training on the ski simulator, the range of angles of the performers' hip joints in the sagittal plane decreased in each of the analyzed events. The range of angles of the knee joints in both the sagittal and coronal planes increased. Movements of the ankle joints in the sagittal plane, and overall movements of the left and right sides decreased.[Conclusion] To avoid skiing injuries in the lower limbs, exercise to strengthen the quadriceps and hamstring muscles to balance their strength is necessary. In particular, exercise to strengthen the hamstring muscles is required

This study analyses the effects of various angles in sculling on human body lift and drag by means of computational fluid dynamics, discusses the importance of sculling and provides a basis for the development of future water safety education programmes. Study subjects were based on the mean data collected from males in the age of 20s from a survey on the anthropometric dimensions of the Koreans. Moreover, lift, drag as well as coefficient values, all of which were governed by the angle of the palm, were calculated using 3-dimentional modelling produced by computational fluid dynamics programmes i.e. CFD. Interpretations were performed via general k-ε turbulence modelling in order to determine lift, drag and coefficient values. Turbulence intensity was set to one per cent as per the figures from preceding research papers and 3-dimentional simulations were performed for a total of five different angles 0°, 15°, 30°, 45° and 60°. The drag and lift values for the differing angles of the hands during sculling movement are as follows. The lift and drag values gradually increased with the increasing angle of the palm, however, the magnitude of increase for drag started to predominate lift from 45° and lift gradually decreased from 60°. Overall, it is concluded that the optimal efficiency of sculling can be achieved at the angles 15° and 30°, and it is anticipated that greater safety and informative education can be ensured for Life saving trainees if the results were to be applied to practical settings. However, as the study was conducted using simulation programmes which performed analyses on the collected anthropometric dimension, the obtained results cannot be made universal, which warrants furthers studies involving varied study subjects with actual measurements taken in water.

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