A musculoskeletal simulation study on the biomechanics of the lower extremity during the golf swing

Purpose This study aimed to investigate the mechanisms of the human body dynamics during the golf swing through a musculoskeletal simulation for different types of subjects to better understand the biomechanical aspects of the golf sport. Methods The lower extremity model of the AnyBodyTM modeling system was adapted to a more advanced knee model to capture the large knee axial rotations during golf swing using an inverse dynamic musculoskeletal approach. Swings from three golfers, one with apparent osteoarthritis in both knee joints, one with bilateral total knee replacement, and one healthy, were captured in a motion capture laboratory and simulated. Results The golf swing generated a high axial rotation in the knee joint (approximately 25°-31°). Ball impact represented the most critical time event, near which maximum loading of the lower extremity was observed, e.g., knee compression force raised to a maximum of 329% body weight. The fast rate of knee loading by large compression forces prior to ball impact was identified as a potential cause of knee injury for golfers. Conclusions Our findings are comparable with previous experimental and computational studies, and the proposed musculoskeletal model can be employed to provide valuable information to clinicians and scientists, e.g., on the biomechanics of the lower extremities after total knee replacement for golf swing.