Josefine Panten analyses the movements of handball players when taking a penalty throw from seven metres. Her test subjects are sports students whose movements are recorded by a total of twelve infrared cameras during the experiment.

The athletes are labelled beforehand with reflective markers so that the computer can also recognise the anatomical landmarks.

The infrared cameras record the positions of the markers - at up to 240 images per second. Josefine Panten has to calibrate the cameras beforehand.

The two protagonists then enter the pitch. Before each throw, the thrower and goalkeeper adopt a basic posture that the system recognises. It can then automatically assign the marked anatomical landmarks.

A total of 160 penalty throws are planned, divided into 4 blocks of 40 throws each - with extensive breaks in between. The repetitions are necessary to compensate for the variance in throwing movements resulting from multiple factors in the less controlled situation.

There are no guidelines beyond the handball rules - conscious, spontaneous deceptive actions are therefore possible from the interaction. This is how it should be in the experiment.

Josefine Panten's experimental design initially envisages 10 pairings with subjects at an intermediate to advanced skill level so that she obtains sufficient data material for her cluster analysis. Other skill levels follow.

The "throwing integer" in 3D: In the analysis, the movement trajectory, i.e. the respective spatial course of the movement (points), is visualised - from small-scale pointing or grasping movements to larger-scale running and jumping movements.

Panten with her doctoral supervisor Prof Dr Jörg Schorer: they can track individual movement patterns in real time on the screen while the experiment is still running and check the quality of the data collected. Photos: Markus Hibbeler