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Biomechanical Factors Influencing the Performance of Elite Alpine Ski Racers

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Biomechanical Factors Influencing the Performance of Elite Alpine Ski Racers See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/259490713 Biomechanical Factors Influencing the Performance of Elite Alpine Ski Racers ARTICLE · DECEMBER 2013 DOI: 10.1007/s40279-013-0132-z · Source: PubMed CITATIONS READS 4 283 3 AUTHORS: Kim Hébert-Losier Matej Supej National Sports Institute of Malaysia University of Ljubljana 42 PUBLICATIONS 127 CITATIONS 57 PUBLICATIONS 353 CITATIONS SEE PROFILE SEE PROFILE Hans-Christer Holmberg Mid Sweden University 252 PUBLICATIONS 1,559 CITATIONS SEE PROFILE Available from: Kim Hébert-Losier Retrieved on: 23 February 2016 Sports Med DOI 10.1007/s40279-013-0132-z SYSTEMATIC REVIEW Biomechanical Factors Influencing the Performance of Elite Alpine Ski Racers Kim He´bert-Losier • Matej Supej • Hans-Christer Holmberg Ó Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2013 Abstract subsequently included for review were quality assessed Background Alpine ski racing is a popular international using a modified version of a validated quality assessment winter sport that is complex and challenging from physical, checklist. Data on the study population, design, location, technical, and tactical perspectives. Despite the vast and findings relating biomechanics to performance in amount of scientific literature focusing on this sport, alpine ski racers were extracted from each article using a including topical reviews on physiology, ski-snow friction, standard data extraction form. and injuries, no review has yet addressed the biomechanics Results A total of 12 articles met the inclusion criteria, of elite alpine ski racers and which factors influence per- were reviewed, and scored an average of 69 ± 13 % formance. In World Cup events, winning margins are often (range 40–89 %) upon quality assessment. Five of the mere fractions of a second and biomechanics may well be a studies focused on giant slalom, four on slalom, and three determining factor in podium place finishes. on downhill disciplines, although these latter three articles Objective The aim of this paper was to systematically were also relevant to super-G events. Investigations on review the scientific literature to identify the biomechanical speed skiing (i.e., downhill and super-G) primarily exam- factors that influence the performance of elite alpine ski ined the effect of aerodynamic drag on performance, racers, with an emphasis on slalom, giant slalom, super-G, whereas the others examined turn characteristics, energetic and downhill events. principles, technical and tactical skills, and individual traits Methods Four electronic databases were searched using of high-performing skiers. The range of biomechanical relevant medical subject headings and key words, with an factors reported to influence performance included energy additional manual search of reference lists, relevant jour- dissipation and conservation, aerodynamic drag and nals, and key authors in the field. Articles were included if frictional forces, ground reaction force, turn radius, and they addressed human biomechanics, elite alpine skiing, trajectory of the skis and/or centre of mass. The biome- and performance. Only original research articles published chanical differences between turn techniques, inter- in peer-reviewed journals and in the English language dependency of turns, and abilities of individuals were also were reviewed. Articles that focused on skiing disciplines identified as influential factors in skiing performance. In other than the four of primary interest were excluded the case of slalom and giant slalom events, performance (e.g., mogul, ski-cross and freestyle skiing). The articles could be enhanced by steering the skis in such a manner to reduce the ski-snow friction and thereby energy dissipated. This was accomplished by earlier initiation of turns, longer & K. He´bert-Losier ( ) Á H.-C. Holmberg path length and trajectory, earlier and smoother application Department of Health Sciences, Swedish Winter Sports Research Centre, Mid Sweden University, Kunskapens va¨g 8, Hus D, of ground reaction forces, and carving (rather than skid- 83125 O¨ stersund, Sweden ding). During speed skiing, minimizing the exposed frontal e-mail: [email protected] area and positioning the arms close to the body were shown to reduce the energy loss due to aerodynamic drag and M. Supej Department of Biomechanics, Faculty of Sport, University of thereby decrease run times. In actual races, a consistently Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia good performance (i.e., fast time) on different sections of K. He´bert-Losier et al. the course, terrains, and snow conditions was a character- skiing performance. Previous reviews have focused on the istic feature of winners during technical events because impact of physiology [3–5], strength and conditioning [6], these skiers could maximize gains from their individual and ski-snow friction [7] on performance, with numerous strengths and minimize losses from their respective other papers focusing on the incidence [8], trends [9, 10], weaknesses. causes [11, 12], underlying mechanisms [13, 14], and Limitations Most of the articles reviewed were limited to preventive strategies [15, 16] of injuries to alpine skiers. investigating a relatively small sample size, which is a However, to this day, only a single paper has reviewed the usual limitation in research on elite athletes. Of further biomechanics of alpine skiing to compare the characteris- concern was the low number of females studied, repre- tics of the classic-parallel and modern-carving turn tech- senting less than 4 % of all the subjects examined in the niques [17]. This review was well warranted by virtue of articles reviewed. In addition, although overall run time is the significant changes in the pattern of movement of skiers the ultimate measure of performance in alpine ski racing, that resulted from the introduction of carving skis into the several other measures of instantaneous performance were market in 1997/1998 [18] and into World Cup events in also employed to compare skiers, including the aerody- 1999/2000 [19], with specifications formulated by the namic drag coefficient, velocity, section time, time lost per International Ski Federation (FIS) in 2002/2003 [2]. change in elevation, and mechanical energy behaviours, Nonetheless, despite providing insight into the biome- which makes cross-study inferences problematic. More- chanics of the modern ski-turn technique, this review by over, most studies examined performance through a limited Mu¨ller and Schwameder [17] does not offer a compre- number of gates (i.e., 2–4 gates), presumably because the hensive understanding of the currently known biome- most commonly used measurement systems can only cap- chanical features that contribute to the success of elite ture small volumes on a ski field with a reasonable accu- alpine skiers. racy for positional data. Whether the biomechanical Researchers have examined alpine ski racing perfor- measures defining high instantaneous performance can be mance employing a range of methodologies that have maintained throughout an entire race course remains to be included using wind tunnels to quantify the impact of determined for both male and female skiers. position and/or aerodynamic drag on run times [20] and Conclusions Effective alpine skiing performance sophisticated video analyses of World Cup races [21]or involves the efficient use of potential energy, the ability to field-based studies [22] to characterize the technical and minimize ski-snow friction and aerodynamic drag, main- tactical abilities of the most successful international skiers. tain high velocities, and choose the optimal trajectory. In addition, various mathematical models have been Individual tactics and techniques should also be considered developed, validated and applied to alpine skiers to char- in both training and competition. To achieve better run acterize performance parameters at various time points [21, times, consistency in performance across numerous sec- 23–25]. However, in spite of these advances in alpine tions and varied terrains should be emphasized over skiing research, the biomechanical and functional param- excellence in individual sections and specific conditions. eters that promote the performance of the elite athlete are still not completely understood [22]. Accordingly, the aim of the present systematic review is 1 Introduction to identify the biomechanical factors that impact elite alpine skiing performance from the currently available In highly competitive alpine ski racing, the difference evidence, with a particular focus on slalom, giant slalom, between first and second place is often measured in mere super-G, and downhill events. It is expected that such an fractions of a second. For example, at the 2013 Alpine overview will help optimize the performance and training World Ski Championships in Schladming, Austria, the of the elite alpine ski competitor, as well as guide future average difference between first and second place across research in the field. events was less than half a second (*0.6 %) [1], even though the difference in time during racing between the top six World Cup contenders can be as great as 10 % on short 2 Methods sections of a course [2]. More than one-tenth of the total medals at the upcoming Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics will 2.1 Data Sources and Search Strategy be awarded to alpine skiers, which illustrates the increasing international recognition and prestige associated with this Four electronic databases were systematically
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