Assessment of Three-Dimensional Kinematics of High- and Low-Calibre Hockey Skaters on Synthetic Ice Using Wearable Sensors

Abstract

Hockey skating objective assessment can help coaches detect players’ performance drop early and avoid fatigue-induced injuries. This study aimed to calculate and experimentally validate the 3D angles of lower limb joints of hockey skaters obtained by inertial measurement units and explore the effectiveness of the on-ice distinctive features measured using these wearable sensors in differentiating low- and high-calibre skaters. Twelve able-bodied individuals, six high-calibre and six low-calibre skaters, were recruited to skate forward on a synthetic ice surface. Five IMUs were placed on their dominant leg and pelvis. The 3D lower-limb joint angles were obtained by IMUs and experimentally validated against those obtained by a motion capture system with a maximum root mean square error of 5 deg. Additionally, among twelve joint angle-based distinctive features identified in other on-ice studies, only three were significantly different (p-value < 0.05) between high- and low-calibre skaters in this synthetic ice experiment. This study thus indicated that skating on synthetic ice alters the skating patterns such that the on-ice distinctive features can no longer differentiate between low- and high-calibre skating joint angles. This wearable technology has the potential to help skating coaches keep track of the players’ progress by assessing the skaters’ performance, wheresoever.

A comparative study of biomechanical assessments in laboratory and field settings for manual material handling tasks using extractor tools and exoskeletons

“…In contrast, field evaluations conducted in actual work environments allow researchers to observe and evaluate workers in their natural settings, which ensures that the assessments are contextually relevant and offer crucial insights into the exoskeleton’s real-world performance, usability, and user acceptance ( De Bock et al, 2020 ; Gull et al, 2020 ; Bennett et al, 2023 ). In-field ergonomic risk assessments are also subject to limitations such as the influence of uncontrolled environmental variables and limited measuring equipment ( Crea et al, 2021 ; Khandan et al, 2022 ).…”

Reliability, Validity, and Sensitivity of Spatiotemporal Parameters in Bandy Sprint Skating Using Skate-Mounted Inertial Measurement Units

“…Therefore, the accurate and objective evaluation of the glide-by-glide skating technique during acceleration and maximum speed phases could be crucial for performance optimization. The spatial (e.g., glide length) and temporal (e.g., glide time) characteristics of skating are usually measured by stationary, multi-camera 3D motion-capture systems in laboratory settings [7][8][9][10]. Although they are very precise and are considered the "gold standard" in kinematic analysis, these systems are often very expensive, require specific procedural knowledge, are not available in every ice sports hall, and do not cover a large testing area, which together reduces their application value [7,11].…”