Muscle control in elite alpine skiing.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to determine whether muscle control may be influenced by accelerative forces brought about by the downhill displacement of body mass in combination with the sharp turns during alpine skiing. METHODS: Sixteen elite skiers performed either super G (SG), giant slalom (GS), slalom (SL), or freestyle mogul (FM) skiing. Knee and hip joint angles and electromyographic (EMG) activity of the knee extensors were recorded. RESULTS: During the course of a turn, the minimum (deepest stance position) knee angle of the outside (main load-bearing) leg ranged from 60 degrees to 100 degrees, where the smallest angle was obtained in the FM event. Among the traditional alpine disciplines, smaller knee angles were obtained in the high-speed events (i.e., knee angle: SG