Biomechanics and Injury Prevention in Female Volleyball Athletes
Amber Wardrop, BKIN, MSc Student
Amber Wardrop is a Master of Science student at the University of Alberta. After completing her Bachelor of Kinesiology, she began research with the Rehabilitation Robotics Lab.
With experience researching markerless motion capture technology with various populations, she transitioned to implementing portable technology with an athletic population. Her thesis work includes recording female varsity volleyball athletes during the spike. Amber is interested in technology that can indicate biomechanical differences between athletes with, and without, recent lower-extremity injuries.
Key Takeaways
This presentation session includes a discussion of common injuries experienced by high-performance volleyball athletes. Female varsity volleyball athletes participated in this study and were separated into athletes with, and those without, recent lower extremity injuries for direct comparison. Markerless motion capture technology and pressure-sensing socks were employed to provide quantifiable comparisons between participant groups. This study aimed to investigate biomechanical differences in athletes during the volleyball spike. The results of this study will contribute to the understanding of biomechanics in volleyball and provide insight into injury prevention.
