Abstract
Athletes are required to be able to make certain essential movements in their sports in order to perform well and to prevent injuries. Not only strength, power, speed, and agility but also posture and movement pattern are very important component to improve their performance. Applying movement screening test and analyzing the movements are essential for athletes to determine what they need to improve. High Performance Gym (HPG) at Japan Institute of Sports Sciences (JISS) has been providing Functional Assessment for Athletic Body (FAAB) to the Olympic athletes and Paralympic athletes since 2013. FAAB includes 9 movements, and each movement is filmed with three cameras from front (or back), side, and above. The picture from above is very useful to detect the dysfunction of the movements on horizontal plane such as pelvic rotation. We analyzed the posture and thoracic rotation movement in sitting of three Paralympic cross-country skiers with unilateral arm impairment. They have a tendency that their scapula on affected side are sitting higher and more forward and that the thoracic rotation is limited on affected side compare to the unaffected side. Those dysfunction coming from their impairment may affect their movement and performance. Specific exercises and training might be required to improve those asymmetry and inefficient movements. This report mentions that how we assess and analyze their posture and movement, and how we apply those results in order to provide the training programs for Paralympic athletes.
