Unlocking the potential of video-based markerless motion analysis to study world-class sporting performance

Area of Science:

• Sport Biomechanics
• Motion Analysis
• Computer Vision

Background:

• Traditional 3D marker-based motion capture is limited in competitive settings.
• Markerless motion analysis offers unobtrusive in-competition performance capture.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review the progression of markerless motion analysis from lab to in-competition.
• To explore the accuracy and validation of markerless systems for elite athlete assessment.

Main Methods:

• Narrative review of markerless motion analysis systems.
• Exploration of accuracy for joint kinematics in dynamic movements.
• Assessment of in-competition utility and validation strategies.

Main Results:

• Markerless systems show promise for skeletal tracking in competition.
• Existing setups provide a foundation but require rigorous validation.
• Tennis environments may support high-fidelity motion analysis.

Conclusions:

• Software optimization (data processing, datasets, keypoints) can enhance accuracy.
• Validated markerless systems can bridge the gap in assessing elite athlete technique.
• Further research is needed to rigorously validate systems under real-world constraints.