THREE-DIMENSIONAL KINETIC AND KINEMATIC EVALUATION OF AN ARTICULATED FIGURE SKATE

Abstract

Presently, ice skates do not allow movement in the sagittal plane. Adding a one degree of freedom hinge at the ankle would allow freedom of motion in this plane while maintaining support in the other directions. The purpose of this research was to determine the effect of an articulated ice skate on the attenuation of forces and moments experienced while landing from a jump on the ice. Five women figure skaters between the ages of 11 and23 years performed a total of 10 throw-waltz jumps. The subjects wore the articulated skate for five of the jumps and a standard skate for the other five jumps. Joint center coordinates were collected using high speed video equipment. and ground reaction forces were collected using the Fscan foot pressure insoles. Specially written software was used to calculate the forces and moments experienced at the ankle and knee joints. An analysis of the forces and moments at impact will indicate the effectiveness of the articulated skate.