Balance control during gait initiation: State-of-the-art and research perspectives

Figure 5 Typical time course of the center of mass and the center of pressure along the mediolateral direction during gait initiation. The traces were obtained for one subject initiating gait at self-selected speed (one trial). SW and ST indicate swing limb and stance limb, respectively. t0, HOSW, FOSW, FCSW, FOST: Onset variation of biomechanical traces, swing heel-off, swing foot off, swing foot contact, stance foot off, respectively. LAS indicates “lateral ankle strategy”. The extent of the corrections achievable by this strategy may be appreciated by the difference between both the initial and the maximum lateral positions of the COP during the single support phase. COM: Center of mass; COP: Center of pressure.