1
Patterns and Principles of Movement
KIN 330
V. Dianne Ulibarri, Ph.D.
Copyright 2001. V. Dianne Ulibarri. All Rights Reserved. KIN 330 Michigan State University.
Patterns and Principles of Movement
Introduction
The following information deals with movement patterns and two principles of movement seen in sport skills. As you read this information, pay particular attention to the plane or planes through which the body parts move and the order in which they are performed to complete the skill.
The four phases of movement identified in biomechanics are the preparatory, force production, contact/release, and followthrough phases. All patterns occur in the force production phase. The force production phase contains the contact/release of an object. However, in biomechanics, the contact/release phase is critical for determining factors in impulse, momentum, and projectile motion.
Planes of Movement
As was seen in anatomy, the human body is divided into three planes, to allow geographical references to be used with respect to the body. In anatomy however, each plane divided the body into exact halves. That is, the transverse plane divided the body into exact superior (top) and inferior (bottom) halves, the sagittal plane divided the body into exact right and left halves, and the frontal (coronal) plane divided the body into exact anterior (front) and posterior (back) halves. In anatomical position, the center of gravity of the body is located at the intersection of these three major planes.
In this class, we will refer to each of the planes dividing the body into their respective parts, rather than halves. That is, the transverse plane divides the body into top and bottom parts, the sagittal plane divides the body into right and left parts and the frontal plane divides the body into front and back parts. The reason for this modification is that the primary plane of motion can be identified to examine body movements and sport skills. If in the performance of the skill, a body segment were to move out of the primary plane, an error in skill occurs.
Consider the actions of the arms and legs during running. The movements of the arms and legs occur in the sagittal plane. If these movements occurred in any other plane, we would identify the movement as an error. For instance, take the arm action in running. Teachers and coaches want to see the arms remain in the sagittal plane as the individual runs. However, we often see the hands approach, or even cross, the midline of the body during running. Is this an error? Yes! Why? By moving toward the midline, the arms have to move in the transverse plane. In reality, the arm movement may be caused by errors in the movement of the legs. Regardless, the arms are out of the primary plane of movement for that skill. Our task is to figure out the causes of, and then correct the error.
Before continuing, we need to define two phrases: Plane of Movement and Axis of Rotation. The Plane of Movement is the plane in which the body, or body part, is, or should be, moving for that particular skill. That is, the plane of movement is parallel to the plane in which the body part is moving. The axis of rotation is, by definition: the line formed by the intersection of the two planes not involved in the movement. Therefore, the axis of rotation is the axis, or line, about which the body part rotates. The relationship of the axis of rotation to the plane of movement is that they are perpendicular to each other.
Complicating analysis of the body is that different body parts can be moving in different planes sequentially, as one skill is added to another. Additionally, body parts can be moving in different phases of a skill and in different planes either simultaneously, or sequentially. Using the arms as an example of sequential movements, a roundoff back handspring is a skill in which the arms move in the sagittal plane during the approach to the roundoff and during the mount, then move in the frontal plane during the roundoff, and back to the sagittal plane for the back handspring. If the arms move in any plane other than these planes, or other than in this order, an error will occur.
An example of moving in different planes and in different phases simultaneously is an overhand throw. The force production phase begins with the step toward the target. While this action is being performed (force production phase), the trunk and throwing arm are in the preparatory phase, as these body parts are moving away from the target. As a result of these movements, the stretch reflex is elicited in the throwing arm.
Joint Classifications
The joints of the body are constructed so that they are nonaxial, uniaxial, biaxial, or triaxial by design or structure. These classifications are also called zero, one, two or three degrees of freedom, respectively. To move the joint in a manner other than the plane(s) intended by design, can cause an injury at that joint, depending on other factors such as load, rate of loading and range of motion.
The lab entitled Planes of Movement addresses plane of motion identification and axes of rotations for a variety of actions or skills. You may want to examine this lab. As an example, examine the actions of the shoulder, elbow and wrist joints for the actions in the weight training exercise: lat pulldowns. The analysis of lat pulldowns when lifting the weight (resistance) is found in the following table:
Action: Lat Pulldown:
Begin: 145o abduction at the shoulder joints, 170o extension at the elbow joints, wrists
extended.
End: 30o abduction at the shoulder joints, 85o extension at the elbow joints, wrists
extended.
JointPlane of Axis of
MovementMovement Rotation______
ShoulderFrontalThe line formed by the intersection Adduction of the sagittal and transverse planes.
ElbowFrontalThe line formed by the intersection
Flexion of the sagittal and transverse planes.
WristSagittalThe line formed by the intersection Flexion of the transverse and frontal planes.
1
Patterns of Movement
Within sport activity, joint and segment movements are repeated so often that we can examine the majority of skills by classifying them into patterns. The advantage to this method for evaluation, is that the way in which the skill should be performed is known. There are distinct nuances for each skill, but the general pattern of the movement is known, thus a model for that skill is available. All patterns occur during the force production force and include the contact/release phase.
Before we actually get into the arm patterns, there is one set of patterns that is important to understand. This set of patterns deals with the shoulder girdle. In normal movement, the shoulder girdle moves as a result of at least 30o of movement at the shoulder joint.
The Shoulder Girdle Patterns are as follows:
Shoulder JointShoulder Girdle
Upward Rotation
FlexionElevation
Abduction
Downward Rotation
ExtensionDepression
Adduction
Horizontal FlexionAbduction
Horizontal ExtensionAdduction
AbductionUpward Rotation
AdductionDownward Rotation
Inward RotationNo movement
Outward RotationNo movement
Arm Patterns
Arm patterns are defined by actions occurring at the shoulder joint. These arm patterns are the overhand, sidearm, underhand, backhand and pushing patterns. For example, the overhand pattern is seen in the baseball pitch, overhand throw, forward pass in football, tennis serve (smash and overhead lob), javelin throw, volleyball overhand serve, and baseball pass in basketball.
The overhand pattern consists of the following movements:
ShoulderShoulderElbow/Wrist/
Joint GirdleForearmHand
Horizontal FlexionAbductionExtensionFlexion
Inward RotationPronation
Examples of the sidearm pattern are seen in the discus, sidearm throw, forehand (groundstroke) in tennis, racketball, squash, and the forehand in badminton.
The sidearm pattern consists of the following movements:
ShoulderShoulderElbow/Wrist/
Joint GirdleForearmHand
Horizontal FlexionAbductionExtensionFlexion
Inward Rotation*Pronation*
*If spins were to be applied to a ball when performing a sidearm pattern with an implement, topspin would be applied by inward rotation at the shoulder joint and pronation at the forearm, while a backspin would be applied by outward rotation and supination, at the shoulder joint and forearm, respectively.
Examples of the underhand pattern include bowling, pitching in slo-pitch softball, horseshoe pitching, and the volleyball dig, underhand volleyball serve and badminton serve. Note that these skills are relatively low velocity skills.
The underhand pattern consists of the following movements:
ShoulderShoulderElbow/Wrist/
Joint GirdleForearmHand
Flexion AbductionExtensionFlexion
Upward Rotation
Elevation
The speed of the pitch in fastpitch softball, is faster than the pitch in slo-pitch softball. Therefore, other actions must be added to increase both the range through which the ball is carried, and the velocity of the ball.
The underhand pattern used by a pitcher in fastpitch softball, consists of the following movements:
ShoulderShoulderElbow/Wrist/
Joint Girdle ForearmHand
Adduction*Downward Rotation*
| |
Flexion AbductionExtensionFlexion
Upward Rotation
Elevation
Inward RotationPronation
*Actions are due to trunk position.
Flexion at the shoulder joint defines the pattern as underhand and the movement of flexion at the shoulder joint occurs in the sagittal plane. Therefore, the arm needs to stay in a plane that is parallel to the sagittal plane throughout the force production phase. So from where does the adduction at the shoulder joint come? Recall that in an activity such as pitching in fastpitch softball, the trunk rotates about 90o away from the target prior to the force production phase. Another way of stating this position, is that the non-throwing side is closer to the target than the throwing side. Because of the trunk’s position, the shoulder joint of the pitching arm must adduct to keep the arm in the same line of force as that at release. In this case, the primary plane of movement of the arm is the sagittal plane. So it is really the trunk’s position that forces the arm to perform adduction at the shoulder joint to keep the arm in the line of force. Then, because the trunk rotates toward the target, the throwing arm is positioned in outward rotation, from which inward rotation occurs. At the shoulder joint, the upper arm is inwardly rotating and flexing. These movements of adduction, flexion and inward rotation preserve the line of force throughout the skill.
There exists a pattern within the pattern that can be seen in the three arm patterns above. This internal pattern is the movement of the upper and lower arms relative to each other. With the addition of inward rotation at the shoulder joint, the forearm must perform pronation The momentum of the movement at the shoulder joint is along the longitudinal axis (long axis) of both the upper and lower arms. The relationship of these rotational actions of the upper and lower arms will be exemplified in the backhand pattern which follows.
Examples of the backhand pattern include backhand strokes in tennis, badminton, racketball, squash, the traditional throw of a frisbee and the front arm in the skill of batting.
The backhand pattern consists of the following movements:
ShoulderShoulderElbow/Wrist/
Joint GirdleForearmHand
Horizontal ExtensionAdductionExtension/Extension
*Inward Rotation*Pronation
or or
#Outward Rotation#Supination
Note that whether the forearm pronates or supinates is dependent on whether there is inward rotation at the shoulder joint (as when applying backspin) or outward rotation at the shoulder joint (as when applying topspin) in the backhand pattern.
If spin is applied to a ball in the backhand pattern, the shoulder joint will inwardly rotate if backspin is applied, followed by pronation of the forearm. If topspin is applied to a ball, outward rotation will occur at the shoulder joint, followed by supination of the forearm. The opposite is true for the sidearm pattern. That is, for the sidearm pattern, the shoulder joint will inwardly rotate with topspin and outwardly rotate with backspin. The forearm will follow the same direction of rotation as occurred at the shoulder joint. In other words, with inward rotation at the shoulder joint, the forearm will pronate: with outward rotation at the shoulder joint, the forearm will supinate.
The rotational relationship between the upper and lower arms is always true in skilled movement. If one segment were to rotate in the opposite direction as the adjacent segment, an injury would result because of the torsional nature of the applied force.
What type of injury are we describing? Take for example “Little Leaguer’s” elbow. This injury is caused when the upper arm is inwardly rotating (as it should) and the lower arm is attempting to supinate. These actions cause a torsional force about the elbow : a hinge joint, that is not designed to rotate around a longitudinal axis. A baseball pitcher who attempts to throw a rise ball by supinating the forearm will find the elbow getting sore first. If a correction in skill is not made, the injury will be more severe.
Pushing patterns differ from the other arm patterns that have been discussed in that they are not defined by actions at the shoulder joint. Rather, pushing patterns are usually expected when a heavy, or large, object is being projected or moved, or accuracy in projection is needed. With pushing patterns, there are less active actions and more static actions that occur. Inward rotation at the shoulder joint is usually static which limits the range of movement in pronation at the forearm. Limiting the range of movement results in less force produced.
Examples of the pushing pattern include most shots in basketball (free throw, two (2) and three (3) point shots), and throwing darts. The chest pass in basketball and the soccer two hand overhead throw-in are also examples of pushing patterns. Note that the planes of movement for the two previous actions are different from the other examples given.
The pushing pattern consists of the following movements if the primary plane of movement is in the sagittal plane:
ShoulderShoulderElbow/Wrist/
Joint GirdleForearmHand
FlexionAbductionExtensionFlexion
Upward Rotation
Elevation
Inward rotation Pronation
(static) (static)
If the pushing pattern is performed primarily in the transverse plane, as in a chest pass, its pattern would consists of the following movements:
ShoulderShoulderElbow/Wrist/
Joint GirdleForearmHand
Horizontal FlexionAbductionExtension/Flexion
Inward RotationPronation
(static) (static)
Leg Patterns
Leg patterns are defined by the plane in which the pelvis moves. Generally speaking, the pelvis will either move in the transverse plane or not. If the pelvis moves in the transverse plane the body is attempting to generate a large amount of force. In this case either the Two Feet in Contact with the Ground Pattern or the One Foot in Contact with the Ground Pattern will be used. The transverse plane of movement of the pelvis increases the range of movement for that skill, which in turn will increase the velocity and force of the skill. The greater the force or velocity needed for a given skill, requires either a One Foot or Two Feet in Contact with the Ground Pattern to be used by the performer.
If the pelvis is carried in either of the other planes of movement (sagittal or frontal) then either the Pushing Pattern or the No Feet in Contact with the Ground Pattern will be seen. Because of the lack of range of movement through which the pelvis is allowed to move, less force is produced than when the pelvis moves through a greater range of motion.
The Two Feet in Contact with the Ground pattern is seen as the pelvis moves through the transverse plane in such activities as batting, shot put, discus throw, javelin throw, tennis forehand, softball pitch, or backhand in a racket sport. Note that both translation and rotation occur. Greater force must be generated against the ground and then transferred to the arm or arms.
The Two Feet in Contact with the Ground Pattern consists of the following joint movements of the legs:
Hip KneeAnkle
Front Leg:
ExtensionExtensionPlantar Flexion
Inward Rotation
Adduction
Back Leg:
ExtensionExtensionPlantar Flexion
Outward Rotation
Abduction
Note that the designation of the front or back leg is the leg that is closer to or further from the target, respectively. This designation is important since the individual has rotated the trunk away from the target in the preparatory phase and then steps toward the target to begin the force production phase.
The One Foot in Contact with the Ground Pattern also is seen as the pelvis moves through the transverse plane in such activities as the take off in the high jump or the support leg while performing a soccer kick.
The One Foot in Contact with the Ground Pattern consists of the following joint movements of the leg: