Beyond studying the skeletal neuromuscular system, kinesiology aims to improve performance and health, both in athletes and in sedentary population. It’s an area of research that allows, among many other things, treating ailments, improving posture and body schema and increasing the neurophysiological capacities of the individual as well as their vital energy.
Within the holistic field, the kinesiologists analyze the patterns of movement taking into account the close link between the muscular chains, the innervation of the nervous system and the flow of energy that runs through our body, taking into account social, mental and emotional factors. These specialists work in teams with physical trainers, traumatologists, nutritionists, psychologists and physiotherapists within the high performance sports field, with the aim of increasing the performance of the athletes and preventing injuries. Depending on the country, there are different orientations of this field of study that, little by little, overcomes the barriers that science imposes on the holistic sphere.
The biomechanical analysis of the ideal technical gesture in a sport discipline is important for this professional profile. The kinesiologist must apply different methodologies and techniques to improve the functional performance of the athlete, considering the extrinsic and intrinsic factors (physical condition, anthropometric factors, basic physical qualities, previous injuries, etc.). In winter sports, this discipline is slowly getting a privileged place in the high competition and in the base sport. It’s important to know our body, to be aware of our movements.
Kinesiology in skiing
Alpine skiing is considered one of the sports in which the technique obtains a leading role in sports performance. Just like in golf, the set of biomechanical and anatomical-functional models that sports gestures have implicit directly affects the efficiency and effectiveness of the execution of the sporting gesture. The exploration of specific movements in the analysis of basketball motivated Dr. Rupcic to recently focus on alpine skiing.
His recent scientific publication, the ‘Optimisation of motor knowledge learning processes in alpine skiing’, studies deeply the existing differences between kinematic parameters in turns, analyzing independently the left and right ski in the whole phase of the turn, as well as making a comparative study of a ski simulator, analyzing sudden turns in specific conditions. The goal was to achieve an ‘ideal’ and technical theoretical model useful to improve the performance of elite slalom and giant skiers, as well as to provide relevant information in the prevention of injuries.
To achieve this, the researcher had the collaboration of Ivica Kostelic, winner of 4 Olympic medals and 26 World Cup events. The biomechanical analysis through video doesn’t cease to grow and be implemented in the high performance of all sports disciplines.
In the video, part of the analysis of the musculoskeletal system of the skier Kostelic is shown, scrutinizing the variation of the angle, the inertia, the center of gravity by segments and the projection of the center of masses, as well as other dependent variables, using the methods of recording and interpretation of Xsens.
