Design and evaluation of a biomechanical system for athletes performance analysis

Elite athletes from different sports are constantly looking for means of improving their performance. To do so, it is important to look for what modern technology can provide. In this sense, force platforms have become an important tool to quantify and accurately analyze the ground reaction forces during physical activities. This paper describes the development of an extensometric force platform and dedicated software to study biomechanical variables during vertical jumps. The developed system measures the vertical component of the ground reaction force, the mechanical power developed, the maximum height of the jump and the mean power within a time interval, among other variables. A number of experiments have been carried out in order to evaluate the system’s performance and accuracy. The results show that the device can correctly detect the required features of vertical jumps and many other physical activities, where the vertical ground force is paramount for evaluating and improving athlete’s performance.