COMPARISON BETWEEN EMG-ASSISTED AND EMG-ASSISTED OPTIMIZATION MODELS IN TERMS OF ESTIMATING LUMBAR SPINAL LOADS DURING A GOLF SWING

Abstract

This study compared two different models that were required for the computation of the lumbar spinal loads during a golf swing. Simple scaling and optimization techniques were used to modify the initial muscle forces obtained by the EMG-based model such that the condition for moment equilibrium was met. The results indicated that the discrepancies occurred in lumbar spinal loads estimated by the EMG-assisted (EMGA) and EMG-assisted optimization (EMGAO) models due to the differences in gain values obtained by these models. Unlike the EMGA model, the EMGAO model attempted to find optimized gain values for individual muscles. The EMGAO model not only satisfied the moment equilibrium conditions but also determined final muscle forces within a realistic range. Therefore, the EMGAO model would be superior to the EMGA model in terms of muscle force prediction or lumbar spinal loads estimation.