Motion of the foot inside a hockey skate: As measured from bone, skin, and skate markers.

Abstract

In filming and digitizing human segmental motion, external markers do not necessarily represent a true picture of the actual bone movement. When surface markers are placed on the skin or skate boot (in ice hockey) they move according to skin or boot movement, which does not exactly match bone movement. This results in a misrepresentation of the joint axes of rotation and a greater margin of error in motion measurement and analysis. This problem occurs for ankle and foot movements as their motion is quantified about the ankle joint complex (talocrural and subtalar joints). Hockey skates are vastly more rigid than regular shoes and their restriction of foot movement is greater. Therefore, shoes and hockey skates cannot be considered identical. The present study aims at exploring differences amongst bone, skin, and skate marker based motions of the foot during skating. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)