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<\/a>Beaudette, left, advised Polesky, Kritzer, Napper and MacNeil during the Movella Biomechanics Challenge.<\/p><\/div>\n
Brock\u2019s team included four Master of Science in Applied Health Sciences students focused on Kinesiology: Alex MacNeil (BKin \u201922), Tamar Kritzer (BKin \u201922), Noah Polesky and Alexis Napper (BKin \u201922). As in previous years, Assistant Professor of Kinesiology Shawn Beaudette offered the experiential education opportunity to students in his Advanced Biomechanics Research Methods class.<\/p>\n
The team began their analysis by creating an automated system to rank skiers\u2019 performances and used principal component analysis (PCA) to simplify the complex data so they could better understand and interpret it.<\/p>\n
“PCA helps reveal patterns and relationships that might not be apparent from the raw data. We could see the variations in the performances between a beginner and advanced athlete,\u201d said Kritzer.<\/p>\n
Using a machine learning model, the team was able to identify seven main cross-country skiing techniques from 6,000 movement segments and associate them with different athletic skill levels and power outputs.<\/p>\n
Presenting the information to judges not necessarily familiar with biomechanics was a great experience in knowledge mobilization and translation said Polesky.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur team can talk all day about PCA, but if we can\u2019t tell an athlete or a coach how it\u2019s going to make them a better skier, then they won\u2019t really care,\u201d he said. \u201cWe had to figure out how to make this tool relevant.\u201d<\/p>\n
To better illustrate the differences between beginner and elite skiers to judges, the team created a skeletal animation<\/a> that shows how each level of skier moves and their power output. Elite skiers are represented by the blue line, black is average and red is beginner.<\/p>\n More important than the visual presentation was how the animation can be used as a tool for coaching.<\/p>\n Data collected from an athlete wearing the XSens motion capture equipment can be analyzed and compared to the animation to determine similarities to an elite skier and identify areas of improvement.<\/p>\n
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