Seattle University, Seattle, WA- Sockeye's P. Ray Illian, Jr. took advantage of a rare opportunity this offseason. As a trial run at Seattle U's new Sport Science department, Ray underwent a small battery of tests to determine his fitness level and also collect some interesting data about the mechanical forces involved with throwing a frisbee.
Surrounded by almost a dozen cameras (worth $10K each!) and covered head-to-toe in IR reflective markers, Ray's throwing motions were analyzed using state-of-the-art motion capture technology. In addition, muscle firing data was recorded from a handful of important muscle groups to analyze the order in which each muscle is used. Total set-up required 3 hours of time from 3 Sports center specialists, as well as the help of 4 other Sockeye members to calibrate the cameras and teach Ray how to throw a forehand. You can check out the full data and videos here:
Motion capture of Ray's throws
Motion capture with side-by-side video and muscle readouts
12 minutes of behind-the-scenes footage of the mo-cap and V02-Max testing
As far as we know, this is the first time that full motion capture has been used on Ultimate-specific motions, and the results in terms of the forces and speeds of both the disc and the throwing are are really interesting. Run by senior scientist Paul Illian, Sr, these tests are a first look at how forehands and backhands actually work. You can read Mr. Illian's full report, including some interesting thoughts on the differences between the two throws here.
Ray's VO2 Max (a test of an athlete's complete cardiovascular ability) put him in the range of the highest fit athletes to be tested at the center. Imagine what Ray could have done without the post-Nationals month of non-training rest!
In the future, the Sports Science department may commission a more in-depth study on throwing motions used in Ultimate, and Sockeye is considering year-long consulting and VO2 Max testing with the Sports Science department to further increase the benefit of our in-season training.
Links
Seattle University's Center for the Study of Sport
Seattle University's Human Performance Lab
