Vertical jumping biomechanical evaluation through the use of an inertial sensor-based technology

Abstract

Progress in micro-electromechanical systems has turned inertial sensor units (IUs) into a suitable tool for vertical jumping evaluation. In total, 9 men and 8 women were recruited for this study. Three types of vertical jumping tests were evaluated in order to determine if the data provided by an IU placed at the lumbar spine could reliably assess jumping biomechanics and to examine the validity of the IU compared with force plate platform recordings. Robust correlation levels of the IU-based jumping biomechanical evaluation with respect to the force plate across the entire analysed jumping battery were found. In this sense, significant and extremely large correlations were found when raw data of both IU and force plate-derived normalised force-time curves were compared. Furthermore, significant and mainly moderate correlation levels were also found between both instruments when isolated resultant forces' peak values of predefined jumping phases of each manoeuvre were analysed. However, Bland and Altman graphical representation demonstrated a systematic error in the distribution of the data points within the mean ±1.96 SD intervals. Using IUs, several biomechanical variables such as the resultant force-time curve patterns of the three different vertical jumps analysed were reliably measured.

Assessing Standing Long Jump Developmental Levels Using an Inertial Measurement Unit

“…According to the wellnoted values expected for the vertical acceleration during the free-fall motion, the time interval during which the values of the vertical component of the acceleration were equal or lower the gravitational acceleration was recognized as the FlyT. In this respect, according to previous studies (Picerno et al, 2011;Requena et al, 2012), the instant before the flight phase was identified as the takeoff (T4), while the Frame T5 identified the start of the landing phase (Setuain et al, 2015).…”

Countermovement Jump Recovery in Professional Soccer Players Using an Inertial Sensor

“…Force data derived from inertial sensors has been shown to 50 agree well with simultaneously recorded force plate data. 16 However, while jump heights derived 51 from inertial sensors correlate strongly with heights calculated from force plates, inertial devices 52 were shown to slightly underestimate jump height compared to force plate data. 18 Furthermore, 53 inertial sensor derived CMJ heights were well correlated with optoelectric measurements but 54 provided slightly higher jump heights.…”

“…Performance during CMJ tests has also been assessed using inertial devices that measure 47 vertical acceleration. [15][16][17][18] In addition to providing a measure of jump height, these devices can 48…”

The Relationship Between Whole-Body External Loading and Body-Worn Accelerometry During Team-Sport Movements

“…Accelerometers located at the hip have for example demonstrated an acceptable association with the external forces acting on the whole body, biomechanically expressed as the ground reaction forces (GRF), during daily life activities 7,8 . In addition accelerometers located at the hip and tibia have shown a strong association with GRF in vertical jumping 9,10 . Furthermore, higher accumulated accelerometer-based loading values have recently been observed from a GPS accelerometer located at the hip compared to the trunk for a 90 minute football simulation 11,12 but it remains uncertain which segmental accelerations would better relate to whole-body mechanical loading during typical team sports movements.…”