ABSTRACT
This chapter is intended to provide an appreciation of the applications of electromyography to the study of muscle activity in sports movements. This includes the equipment and methods used, the processing of electromyographic data and the important relationship between the recorded signal (known as the electromyogram-abbreviation EMG) and muscle tension. After reading this chapter you should be able to:
• appreciate the applications of electromyography to the study of sports skills;
• understand why the recorded EMG differs from the physiological signal;
• evaluate the advantages and limitations of the three types of EMG electrode used in sports biomechanics;
• explain the main characteristics of an EMG amplifier; • describe the methods of quantifying the EMG signal in the time and
frequency domains; • be aware of the research that has addressed the relationship between
the EMG and muscle tension, and understand the importance of this relationship.
