Sports motion analysis is used by athletes, coaches and medical professionals to get information about a teen’s sports movements to avoid injury and increase performance. The information is gathered by using digital video cameras that capture movements like jumping and throwing, and then we slow the video to view the motion on a frame-by-frame basis.
How is sports motion analysis done at Children’s?
At Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, we use Dartfish, a computer-based motion analysis technology, to detect sports motions that can lead to injuries. With slowed video footage, we can see actions that may be missed by the naked eye.
Examples include:
- For a baseball pitcher, we look to see if he is dropping his elbow when he throws, which can increase stress across the joint and may lead to injury.
- For a gymnast, we look at her shoulder positioning during a back handspring to make sure she has the range of motion to avoid excessive stresses on her back.
Sports motion analysis at Children’s is done by a pediatric-trained sports physical therapist. Our sports physical therapists only work with kids and teens and are trained to recognize, identify and treat injuries for teens specifically.
You will receive a thorough breakdown of your teen athlete’s specific mechanics as it pertains to his sport. Movements are studied in precise detail, showing multiple angles of an athlete’s body, sometimes layered with other images and video. This allows us to identify small differences in technique for skill repetition and development.