A BIOMECHANICAL ANALYSIS OF COMPETITIVE AND RECREATIONAL PLAYERS IN RELATION TO THE DARTS THROWING TECHNIQUE

Abstract

The aim of this study was to clarify the difference of the darts throwing motion (technique) between competitive (CG) and recreational (RG) groups. The darts throwing motions for each group were analyzed using an automatic motion capture system and force platforms. The performance (distance) of CG was statistically superior to RG. Shoulder and elbow joint movement indexes were smaller in CG than in RG. CG threw the dart with the static position that body weight was mostly distributed to the forward leg. However, RG started from the static position that distributed two thirds of body weight on the forward leg, and subsequently threw the dart while transmitting most of the remaining body weight from backward leg to forward leg. It is concluded that CG had the less movement of body segments involved in the darts throwing motion to achieve a high level of performance.