Propulsion Calculated by Force and Displacement of Center of Mass in Treadmill Cross-Country Skiing

Abstract

This study evaluated two approaches for estimating the total propulsive force on a skier’s center of mass (COM) with double-poling (DP) and V2-skating (V2) skiing techniques. We also assessed the accuracy and the stability of each approach by changing the speed and the incline of the treadmill. A total of 10 cross-country skiers participated in this study. Force measurement bindings, pole force sensors, and an eight-camera Vicon system were used for data collection. The coefficient of multiple correlation (CMC) was calculated to evaluate the similarity between the force curves. Mean absolute force differences between the estimated values and the reference value were computed to evaluate the accuracy of each approach. In both DP and V2 techniques, the force–time curves of the forward component of the translational force were similar to the reference value (CMC: 0.832–0.936). The similarity between the force and time curves of the forward component of the ground reaction force (GRF) and the reference value was, however, greater (CMC: 0.879–0.955). Both approaches can estimate the trend of the force–time curve of the propulsive force properly. An approach by calculating the forward component of GRF is a more appropriate method due to a better accuracy.