Abstract
Biomechanical simulation and modelling approaches have the possibility to make a meaningful impact within applied sports settings, such as sprinting. However, for this to be realised, such approaches must first undergo a thorough quantitative evaluation against experimental data. We developed a musculoskeletal modelling and simulation framework for sprinting, with the objective to evaluate its ability to reproduce experimental kinematics and kinetics data for different sprinting phases. This was achieved by performing a series of data-tracking calibration (individual and simultaneous) and validation simulations, that also featured the generation of dynamically consistent simulated outputs and the determination of foot-ground contact model parameters. The simulated values from the calibration simulations were found to be in close agreement with the corresponding experimental data, particularly for the kinematics (average root mean squared differences (RMSDs) less than 1.0° and 0.2 cm for the rotational and translational kinematics, respectively) and ground reaction force (highest average percentage RMSD of 8.1%). Minimal differences in tracking performance were observed when concurrently determining the foot-ground contact model parameters from each of the individual or simultaneous calibration simulations. The validation simulation yielded results that were comparable (RMSDs less than 1.0° and 0.3 cm for the rotational and translational kinematics, respectively) to those obtained from the calibration simulations. This study demonstrated the suitability of the proposed framework for performing future predictive simulations of sprinting, and gives confidence in its use to assess the cause-effect relationships of technique modification in relation to performance. Furthermore, this is the first study to provide dynamically consistent three-dimensional muscle-driven simulations of sprinting across different phases.
Highlights
Sprinting is the fastest mode of human bipedal locomotion, and the short distance events (60–400-m) in modern athletics provide a means of assessing the limits of human sprinting performance
The kinematics and ground reaction force (GRF) obtained from all the data-tracking simulations were a close match with the experimental kinematics (Figs. 3–5) and GRF (Figs. 6 and 7)
The largest kinematics tracking error for the validation simulation was obtained for right ankle plantarflexion-dorsiflexion (5.5 root mean squared difference (RMSD))
Summary
Sprinting is the fastest mode of human bipedal locomotion, and the short distance events (60–400-m) in modern athletics provide a means of assessing the limits of human sprinting performance. The objective for athletes competing within these events is to cover the set distance in the shortest possible time, and often the winning margin is hundredths of a second at the highest levels of competition. Coaches and athletes are continually striving for improvements in technique which can enhance overall performance by such fine margins. Sprinting plays an important role within team-based sports. Sprinting has been shown to be pivotal in creating goal scoring opportunities within soccer (Faude, Koch & Meyer, 2012). The insights from further understanding sprinting technique and performance can have far reaching applications, as they can be transferred to benefit performance in other sports
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