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Understanding the biomechanics of cue sports from experimental and theoretical approaches
Author
Pan, Jingwen
Supervisor
Kong, Pui Wah
Komar, John
Abstract
Cue sports are popular around the world and played in various forms, such as 8-ball, 9-ball, 10-ball, and snooker. While the physics of ball movements on pool table has been examined, biomechanical investigations of cue sports are limited. The primary purpose of this thesis was to explore the key biomechanical features of expert performance in cue sports. A series of studies were conducted to develop the testing protocols, examine the kinematics of the selected shots, explore the biomechanics of the break shot, and simulate the cueing movements via modelling.
Secondly, an in-depth analysis on the trial-to-trial shot errors identified no adaptation effects in 10 repeated bouts of shots, indicating that cue sports players may not be able to quickly alter their movements to improve shot performance. Investigations of the cueing movements were conducted for the back spin and top spin shots, and the kinematics of the cue stick and upper body extremities were analysed. The results showed generally no significant kinematic differences between the skilled and less skilled players. The novice group had significantly greater magnitudes of head movements during the cueing movement than the skilled group. This reaffirmed the coaching guidelines that (skilled) players should fix the body while only allow the elbow and wrist movements to deliver the cue stick.
.Thirdly, a 2D video analysis was performed to quantify the characteristics of the break shot in professional 9-ball games using public online sources. The results showed that parking the cue ball near pool table centre would provide players a good control of the game and facilitate more balls potted in the single visit immediately after the break shot. After that, methods were applied to quantify the break shot characteristics for both skilled and less skilled players recruited for this study. Comprehensive biomechanical investigations were conducted for the cueing movements in a break shot. The results showed that players who had at least one-year playing experience exhibited similar kinematics, muscle activations, and plantar loadings. The cue tip speed, joint ROM, and angular velocities of the break shot were greater than those in the back spin and top spin shots, suggesting the break shot being different from other types of shots.
Lastly, utilising marker trajectories of the back spin shot from the experiments, simulation model was built with OpenSim and validated against the experimental kinematic results. The results showed that the simulations on the elbow joints were good, while the OpenSim-generated shoulder motions deviated from the experimental data. After that, with muscle activations of the break shot as inputs, muscle forces were calculated using the model. The preliminary results of 2 participants suggested the importance of the shoulder movements when executing the break shot.
Secondly, an in-depth analysis on the trial-to-trial shot errors identified no adaptation effects in 10 repeated bouts of shots, indicating that cue sports players may not be able to quickly alter their movements to improve shot performance. Investigations of the cueing movements were conducted for the back spin and top spin shots, and the kinematics of the cue stick and upper body extremities were analysed. The results showed generally no significant kinematic differences between the skilled and less skilled players. The novice group had significantly greater magnitudes of head movements during the cueing movement than the skilled group. This reaffirmed the coaching guidelines that (skilled) players should fix the body while only allow the elbow and wrist movements to deliver the cue stick.
.Thirdly, a 2D video analysis was performed to quantify the characteristics of the break shot in professional 9-ball games using public online sources. The results showed that parking the cue ball near pool table centre would provide players a good control of the game and facilitate more balls potted in the single visit immediately after the break shot. After that, methods were applied to quantify the break shot characteristics for both skilled and less skilled players recruited for this study. Comprehensive biomechanical investigations were conducted for the cueing movements in a break shot. The results showed that players who had at least one-year playing experience exhibited similar kinematics, muscle activations, and plantar loadings. The cue tip speed, joint ROM, and angular velocities of the break shot were greater than those in the back spin and top spin shots, suggesting the break shot being different from other types of shots.
Lastly, utilising marker trajectories of the back spin shot from the experiments, simulation model was built with OpenSim and validated against the experimental kinematic results. The results showed that the simulations on the elbow joints were good, while the OpenSim-generated shoulder motions deviated from the experimental data. After that, with muscle activations of the break shot as inputs, muscle forces were calculated using the model. The preliminary results of 2 participants suggested the importance of the shoulder movements when executing the break shot.
Date Issued
2022
Call Number
GV891.A3 Pan
Project
SUG 12/18 KPW
RI 1/19 KPW
Date Submitted
2022
Funding Agency
Ministry of Education, Singapore
National Institute of Education, Singapore