Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 9, 2026

Biomechanical Analysis Methods to Assess Professional Badminton Players' Lunge Performance
Published on: June 11, 2019
Correlation between ground reaction force and tibial acceleration in vertical jumping
Niell G Elvin1, Alex A Elvin, Steven P Arnoczky
1Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA.
Abstract:
Modern electronics allow for the unobtrusive measurement of accelerations outside the laboratory using wireless sensor nodes. The ability to accurately measure joint accelerations under unrestricted conditions, and to correlate them with jump height and landing force, could provide important data to better understand joint mechanics subject to real-life conditions. This study investigates the correlation between peak vertical ground reaction forces, as measured by a force plate, and tibial axial accelerations during free vertical jumping. The jump heights calculated from force-plate data and accelerometer measurements are also compared. For six male subjects participating in this study, the average coefficient of determination between peak ground reaction force and peak tibial axial acceleration is found to be 0.81. The coefficient of determination between jump height calculated using force plate and accelerometer data is 0.88. Data show that the landing forces could be as high as 8 body weights of the jumper. The measured peak tibial accelerations ranged up to 42 g. Jump heights calculated from force plate and accelerometer sensors data differed by less than 2.5 cm. It is found that both impact accelerations and landing forces are only weakly correlated with jump height (the average coefficient of determination is 0.12). This study shows that unobtrusive accelerometers can be used to determine the ground reaction forces experienced in a jump landing. Whereas the device also permitted an accurate determination of jump height, there was no correlation between peak ground reaction force and jump height.
More Related Videos
06:35Using Gold-standard Gait Analysis Methods to Assess Experience Effects on Lower-limb Mechanics During Moderate High-heeled Jogging and Running
Published on: September 14, 2017
10:28Kinematics and Ground Reaction Force Determination: A Demonstration Quantifying Locomotor Abilities of Young Adult, Middle-aged, and Geriatric Rats
Published on: February 22, 2011
Related Concept Videos
Measuring Acceleration Due to Gravity
A simple pendulum can be described as a point mass and a string. Meanwhile, a physical pendulum is any object whose oscillations are similar to a simple pendulum, but cannot be modeled as a point mass on a string because its mass is distributed over a larger area. The behavior of a physical pendulum can be modeled using the principles of...
Tangential and Normal Components of Acceleration
Variation in Acceleration due to Gravity near the Earth's Surface
The difference between the true and apparent weights is proportional to the square of the Earth's angular speed. Since the...
Relative Motion Analysis - Acceleration
Average Acceleration
Instantaneous Acceleration