The Biomechanics of Ice Hockey: Health and Performance Using Wearable Technology

Abstract

Background: Ice hockey is a dynamic and challenging sport that encompasses forward and backward skating, speed, agility, mobility and coordination. The physical and biomechanical demands on players mean that injuries occur due to collusions and impacts. Whilst player performance remains important for success, the likelihood of game-related injuries is vast. Contemporary wearable technology allows precise measurements of kinematic and kinetic characteristics that can help performance and mitigate injury. Therefore, there has been increasing interest amongst players, coaches, sports scientists, health officials and the sports engineering community to enhance understanding. Methods: This scoping review searched three electronic bibliographic databases (Pubmed, GoogleScholar and Scopus) using a structured search strategy to identify articles published between 2000 and 2022. The reference lists of selected papers (not found in the original search) were also examined for relevance. Thus, a review of epidemiological, biomechanical and technological studies are presented. Results: An ability to link performance with athlete health and wellbeing using wearable technology is not clear. It is apparent that for the majority of data metrics, legitimacy, usage and dependability are multifactorial, in that it is reliant upon a variety of factors including wearable technology brand and model. Reasons exist to support the usage of wearables to track performance and manage athlete health and wellbeing, although the benefit accrued from devising a consistent approach depends on the nature of the how the technology is applied. Conclusions: Specific biomechanical assessments should be created using wearable technology given that player position and role requirements may have different injury considerations.