Proposal of an Alpine Skiing Kinematic Analysis with the Aid of Miniaturized Monitoring Sensors, a Pilot Study

Abstract

The recent growth and spread of smart sensor technologies make these connected devices suitable for diagnostic and monitoring in different fields. In particular, these sensors are useful in diagnostics for control of diseases or during rehabilitation. They are also extensively used in the monitoring field, both by non-expert and expert users, to monitor health status and progress during a sports activity. For athletes, these devices could be used to control and enhance their performance. This development has led to the realization of miniaturized sensors that are wearable during different sporting activities without interfering with the movements of the athlete. The use of these sensors, during training or racing, opens new frontiers for the understanding of motions and causes of injuries. This pilot study introduced a motion analysis system to monitor Alpine ski activities during training sessions. Through five inertial measurement units (IMUs), placed on five points of the athletes, it is possible to compute the angle of each joint and evaluate the ski run. Comparing the IMU data, firstly, with a video and then proposing them to an expert coach, it is possible to observe from the data the same mistakes visible in the camera. The aim of this work is to find a tool to support ski coaches during training sessions. Since the evaluation of athletes is now mainly developed with the support of video, we evaluate the use of IMUs to support the evaluation of the coach with more precise data.