University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Gaining a Legg Up
8/11/2022 11:53:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
HATTIESBURG, Miss. – Southern Miss volleyball's Lindsey Legg has always been captivated by the way the human body moves.
It's what led the Fort Walton Beach, Fla. native to Southern Miss and the School of Kinesiology and Nutrition to further her understanding of how the human body functions.
"I really love the research aspect of my studies," Legg said. "I love digging into why we move the way we move and how we get our bodies to accomplish the movements we need them to in certain moments. That's kind of what drives me, just learning more about the reasoning behind the movements we make as humans and athletes."
That passion for research led Legg to partner with the biomechanics lab and School of Kinesiology and Nutrition professor Dr. Tanner Thorsen, where the pair help bridge the gap between biomechanics, kinesiology and athletics.
"Our lab does quite a bit to benefit Southern Miss student-athletes," Thorsen said. "First and foremost, we have been fortunate to have a large number of our graduate and undergraduate researchers work as student researchers, like Lindsey. Providing quality research opportunities for the students has bolstered their resumes and prepared them for future endeavors.
"Second, our lab performs a great deal of student-athlete performance testing, led by Dr. Tyler Donahue. Dr. Donahue has established a fantastic testing protocol whereby athletes are tested and tracked prior to their season starting and periodically in-season. The data collected from these sessions is extremely valuable and informs coaching staffs as it pertains to performance metrics and potential injury risk so they can make the best data-driven decisions for their athletes and teams."
The biomechanics lab uses in ground force plates, a motion capture system and a portable force plate that allows researchers, like Legg, to transport the equipment to different training area, while also being able to bring student-athletes in for a series of different tests where they can look at how they jump, how they land and the forces that they're putting into the ground to achieve their jumping movements.
"It's been amazing to come in and see the dedication that Lindsey has on the court and in her studies as well," said head coach Jenny Hazelwood. "She pours so much of herself into everything that she does, and we couldn't be more proud of the student-athlete that she is.
"Her passion for her studies and making each one of her teammates better is everything that you can ask for as a coach. I'm thrilled to see all of her hard work pay huge dividends for her and her teammates here in a couple of weeks."
Legg's specific research question is one that stems from personal experience on the volleyball court and is investigating how the different types of footwear the volleyball team wears affects injury risk at the knee.
To test her hypotheses, Legg is using the state-of-the-art equipment in the lab to study how members of the volleyball team perform specific volleyball tasks. She is then able to utilize computational biomechanical modeling to assess the mechanics of the volleyball players in different shoe types, writing several of her own computer programs to process and complete all of her data.
"We can look at technique and efficiency and it shows us how we, as volleyball players, are moving and how we can improve the deficiencies we might have," Legg said. "It allows us to build better athletes by partnering the lab with our student-athletes."
She notes that it's been rewarding to see the results of her research benefit herself and her teammates by allowing strength and conditioning coaches to develop programs to better serve not only just the volleyball team but other Southern Miss programs as well.
"It allows us to feel good as athletes at the key moments when we need to be our best, while also improving in recovery post-competition," Legg said. "Everything that we're doing in the weight room is going to translate onto the court. It allows us to jump higher, move quicker and just become overall better athletes."
As Legg works towards completing her master's and eventually plans on pursuing her doctorate in biomechanics, she's left quite the impression on Dr. Thorsen and other peers in the School of Kinesiology and Nutrition.
"Lindsey is a top-performing student, and a leader both on the court and in our lab. She has worked hard to become an independent researcher and performs work of the highest quality," Thorsen said of Legg.
Southern Miss opens the season at the Crimson Tide Invitational on Aug. 26, where Legg and her teammates will put the training done in the biomechanics lab into action.
It's what led the Fort Walton Beach, Fla. native to Southern Miss and the School of Kinesiology and Nutrition to further her understanding of how the human body functions.
"I really love the research aspect of my studies," Legg said. "I love digging into why we move the way we move and how we get our bodies to accomplish the movements we need them to in certain moments. That's kind of what drives me, just learning more about the reasoning behind the movements we make as humans and athletes."
That passion for research led Legg to partner with the biomechanics lab and School of Kinesiology and Nutrition professor Dr. Tanner Thorsen, where the pair help bridge the gap between biomechanics, kinesiology and athletics.
"Our lab does quite a bit to benefit Southern Miss student-athletes," Thorsen said. "First and foremost, we have been fortunate to have a large number of our graduate and undergraduate researchers work as student researchers, like Lindsey. Providing quality research opportunities for the students has bolstered their resumes and prepared them for future endeavors.
"Second, our lab performs a great deal of student-athlete performance testing, led by Dr. Tyler Donahue. Dr. Donahue has established a fantastic testing protocol whereby athletes are tested and tracked prior to their season starting and periodically in-season. The data collected from these sessions is extremely valuable and informs coaching staffs as it pertains to performance metrics and potential injury risk so they can make the best data-driven decisions for their athletes and teams."
The biomechanics lab uses in ground force plates, a motion capture system and a portable force plate that allows researchers, like Legg, to transport the equipment to different training area, while also being able to bring student-athletes in for a series of different tests where they can look at how they jump, how they land and the forces that they're putting into the ground to achieve their jumping movements.
"It's been amazing to come in and see the dedication that Lindsey has on the court and in her studies as well," said head coach Jenny Hazelwood. "She pours so much of herself into everything that she does, and we couldn't be more proud of the student-athlete that she is.
"Her passion for her studies and making each one of her teammates better is everything that you can ask for as a coach. I'm thrilled to see all of her hard work pay huge dividends for her and her teammates here in a couple of weeks."
Legg's specific research question is one that stems from personal experience on the volleyball court and is investigating how the different types of footwear the volleyball team wears affects injury risk at the knee.
To test her hypotheses, Legg is using the state-of-the-art equipment in the lab to study how members of the volleyball team perform specific volleyball tasks. She is then able to utilize computational biomechanical modeling to assess the mechanics of the volleyball players in different shoe types, writing several of her own computer programs to process and complete all of her data.
"We can look at technique and efficiency and it shows us how we, as volleyball players, are moving and how we can improve the deficiencies we might have," Legg said. "It allows us to build better athletes by partnering the lab with our student-athletes."
She notes that it's been rewarding to see the results of her research benefit herself and her teammates by allowing strength and conditioning coaches to develop programs to better serve not only just the volleyball team but other Southern Miss programs as well.
"It allows us to feel good as athletes at the key moments when we need to be our best, while also improving in recovery post-competition," Legg said. "Everything that we're doing in the weight room is going to translate onto the court. It allows us to jump higher, move quicker and just become overall better athletes."
As Legg works towards completing her master's and eventually plans on pursuing her doctorate in biomechanics, she's left quite the impression on Dr. Thorsen and other peers in the School of Kinesiology and Nutrition.
"Lindsey is a top-performing student, and a leader both on the court and in our lab. She has worked hard to become an independent researcher and performs work of the highest quality," Thorsen said of Legg.
Southern Miss opens the season at the Crimson Tide Invitational on Aug. 26, where Legg and her teammates will put the training done in the biomechanics lab into action.
Players Mentioned
DS
/ Women's VolleyballEpisode 5: Forged In Fire
Wednesday, November 29
Episode 4:Forged In Fire
Friday, November 03
Volleyball HC Jenny Hazelwood and Junior Mia Wesley- Arkansas State Postgame
Saturday, October 21
Episode 3: Forged In Fire
Thursday, October 19