ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Bioeng. Biotechnol.
Sec. Biomechanics
What are the Differences Between On-Ice and Off-Ice side-cutting maneuver? A Kinematic and Electromyographic Comparative Analysis of Ice Hockey Players
Provisionally accepted
- Harbin Sport University, Harbin, China
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Introduction: Off-ice training is foundational for developing key physical qualities such as strength and power in ice hockey, but its biomechanical transference to on-ice performance is not well understood. This is critical, as maneuvers like side-cutting carry a high injury risk, potentially linked to environmental differences. This study aimed to compare the hip and knee kinematics and neuromuscular control strategies of elite ice hockey players during side-cutting maneuvers in on-ice versus off-ice environments, and to explore the potential injury implications associated with these biomechanical differences. Methods: Twenty elite male ice hockey players performed standardized 45° side-cutting maneuvers on and off the ice. A 12-camera motion capture system and surface electromyography (sEMG) were used to collect kinematic and muscle activation data. Biomechanical analysis was conducted using OpenSim for modeling, with one-dimensional Statistical Parametric Mapping (SPM1D) for continuous curve analysis and SPSS for discrete data points. Results: The on-ice maneuver demonstrated fundamentally different biomechanical patterns. Kinematically, athletes exhibited significantly greater hip flexion, hip abduction, and knee flexion on-ice. Most notably, a complete reversal in frontal plane knee motion was observed, shifting from a varus posture off-ice to a valgus posture on-ice. Neuromuscularly, a paradoxical strategy was revealed: while individual muscle activation (IEMG, RMS) was significantly lower on-ice, the muscle co-activation index (CI) of the knee and ankle joints was significantly higher. Discussion: The findings reveal a key adaptive trade-off: the on-ice maneuver is kinematically riskier (knee valgus) but biomechanically more efficient (lower muscle work). The increased co-activation appears to be a protective neural strategy to enhance joint stability on the low-friction surface, compensating for the vulnerable posture. This underscores a critical gap in training specificity, as off-ice patterns do not replicate on-ice stability demands. Therefore, optimal training programs must integrate exercises that simulate on-ice loading characteristics to better prepare athletes and mitigate injury risk.
Keywords: Ice hockey, Biomechanics, side-cutting maneuver, training specificity, opensim
Received: 26 Aug 2025; Accepted: 27 Oct 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Yu, Bi, Wang, Qin, Song and Wu. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Fengyu Wu, wufengyu@hrbipe.edu.cn
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