All riders were regular stance (left foot forward). Joints on each rider were marked prior to video taping. A Canon ZR-850 Mini DV video camera was used to video tape the snowboarders performance in the saggital plane. A calibration pole was filmed on each run for scaling purposes. Subjects were video taped taking two runs. For this study the toeside turn was analyzed using Kinematic Analysis 2D software (Schleihauf, 2004) to obtain joint angles during first and second edge changes. Joints digitized included both left and right: hip, knee, ankle, shoulder and elbow.

Results

Means and standard deviations were calculated for all joint angles. Measured joint angles were very consistent among all riders, among both corresponding left and right joints, and also between first and second edge changes. Joint angles (measured in degrees) had the lowest standard deviations in the lower body. During the first edge change the lower body mean joint angles were: right hip 161.86° ± 11.42°, left hip 170.89° ± 13.18°, right knee 162.25° ± 8.43°, left knee 164.48° ± 8.45°, right ankle 81.12° ± 8.20°, left ankle 77.86° ± 9.17°. In the upper body the mean joint angles during the first edge change were: left shoulder 161.24° ± 18.25°, right elbow 153.96° ± 29.39°, and left elbow 161.56° ± 13.60°.During the second edge change the lower body mean joint angles were: right hip 171.83° ± 13.18°, left hip 171.46° ± 6.95°, right knee 166.81° ± 11.63°, left knee 155.90° ± 8.39°, right ankle 76.61° ± 7.88°, left ankle 79.71° ± 7.38°. In the upper body the mean joint angles during the first edge change were: left shoulder 16.23° ± 20.77°, right elbow 155.74° ± 17.97°, and left elbow 145.53° ± 20.37°.The right shoulder was omitted because the right arm was blocked by the rider’s body throughout the movement.Microsoft Excel was used to find the mean joint angles and their standard deviations. This study provides a kinematic description of advanced level snowboard riders performing toeside turns on a relatively easy run.