Research article - (2023)22, 487 - 494
DOI: https://doi.org/10.52082/jssm.2023.488
Ball-To-Hand Contact Forces Increase Modeled Shoulder Torques during a Volleyball Spike
Kyler J. Howard1, Adam E. Galloy2, Dylan G. Schmitz3, Kayt E. Frisch4,
1College of Engineering, George Fox University, Newberg, USA
2Roy J Carver Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa, USA
3University of Wisconsin - Madison, Department of Mechanical Engineering,, USA
4College of Engineering, George Fox University, Newberg, USA

Kayt E. Frisch
✉ George Fox University - Department of Civil, Mechanical, and Biomedical Engineering, 414 N. Meridian St. Newberg, OR 97132 USA
Email: kfrisch@georgefox.edu
Received: 14-07-2022 -- Accepted: 10-08-2023
Published (online): 01-09-2023
ABSTRACT

The volleyball spike is repeated many times in practices and games, presenting a high risk of overuse injury. Previous biomechanical analyses estimating forces on the shoulder during spiking have not included the force exerted on the arm by the ball, because no practical method exists to estimate the contact force between the ball and the hand. The objective of the study was to model the internal shoulder joint reactions while including the measured ball contact force. Ten adolescent female volleyball players performed spikes while we recorded 3D motion capture data for both ball and player. Using an impulse-momentum analysis, we estimated the ball contact force, then included the force in a computational simulation model to estimate the torques produced by the shoulder. The study found that post-contact ball velocities range from 8.6 m/s - 18.2 m/s with net forces between 238 N - 672 N. Most notably, when the ball contact force was included, the average modeled internal shoulder torque to internally rotate the arm increased from -26 N-m to +44 N-m (p < 0.001). These data suggest that neglecting the contact force may risk misinterpreting connections between biomechanics and injury due to spiking. More accurate joint mechanics models will lead to better injury prevention recommendations for volleyball players of all ages.
Key words: Kinematics, Micro Trauma, Shoulder Athletic Injuries, Patient-Specific Computational Modeling, Biomedical Engineering

Key Points
  • A simple way to estimate the force applied to the volleyball during the spike is to place four markers on the ball, and use impulse-momentum methods.
  • Including the externally applied load from the ball significantly changes the magnitude (and sometimes direction) of the joint force at the shoulder
  • More accurate joint mechanics models will lead to better injury prevention recommendations for volleyball players of all ages.








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Ball-To-Hand Contact Forces Increase Modeled Shoulder Torques during a Volleyball Spike
Kyler J. Howard, Adam E. Galloy, Dylan G. Schmitz, Kayt E. Frisch
2023(22), 488 - 495.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.52082/jssm.2023.488