Study guide: Fundamentals of Human Anatomy and Movement

📋 Course Outline

1. Anatomical position
2. Directional terms
3. Body planes and axes
4. Joint movements
5. Basketball jump shot analysis
6. Exam-style applications

📖 1. Anatomical position

🔑 Key Concepts & Definitions

• Anatomical position: Anatomical position is the standard reference stance used to describe directions, planes, and movements consistently.

📝 Essential Points

• Directional terms are defined relative to a standing body facing forward with feet together and arms at the sides.
• Palms face forward in anatomical position.
• All plane and axis descriptions assume the anatomical position reference stance.

💡 Memory Hook

Reference stance = “stand tall, face forward, arms down, palms forward.”

📖 2. Directional terms

🔑 Key Concepts & Definitions

• Superior: Superior describes a structure that lies toward the head or upper part of the body.
• Inferior: Inferior describes a structure that lies toward the feet or lower part of the body.
• Anterior: Anterior describes a structure positioned toward the front of the body.
• Posterior: Posterior describes a structure positioned toward the back of the body.
• Medial and lateral: Medial and lateral describe positions toward the body midline and away from the midline, respectively.

📝 Essential Points

• Proximal means closer to the point of attachment on a limb, such as the elbow being proximal to the wrist.
• Distal means farther from the point of attachment on a limb, such as the fingers being distal to the elbow.
• A structure on the midline side of another is medial to it, while one farther from the midline is lateral to it.

💡 Memory Hook

Sup/Inf and Ant/Post are “up/down” and “front/back,” while Medial means “toward the middle.”

📖 3. Body planes and axes

🔑 Key Concepts & Definitions

• Sagittal plane: The sagittal plane divides the body into left and right halves.
• Frontal plane: The frontal plane divides the body into front and back sections.
• Transverse plane: The transverse plane divides the body into upper and lower parts.
• Transverse axis: The transverse axis runs side-to-side and is used for flexion and extension.
• Longitudinal axis: The longitudinal axis runs vertically from head to toe and is used for rotation.

📝 Essential Points

• The sagittal plane is associated with flexion and extension movements.
• The frontal plane is associated with abduction and adduction movements.
• The transverse plane is associated with rotation and horizontal flexion/extension movements.
• The anteroposterior axis runs front-to-back and is used for abduction and adduction movements.

💡 Memory Hook

Planes cut the body; axes spin the joint: Sagittal–flex/extend, Frontal–abd/add, Transverse–rotation.

📖 4. Joint movements

🔑 Key Concepts & Definitions

• Flexion: Flexion is a movement that decreases the angle between bones.
• Extension: Extension is a movement that increases the angle between bones.
• Abduction: Abduction is a movement away from the body midline.
• Adduction: Adduction is a movement toward the body midline.
• Rotation: Rotation is turning of a bone around its own axis.

📝 Essential Points

• Circumduction is a circular movement that combines flexion, extension, abduction, and adduction.
• Plantar flexion is pointing the toes downward at the ankle.
• Dorsiflexion is lifting the toes upward at the ankle.

💡 Memory Hook

Flexion closes the angle, extension opens it; Abd goes away, Add goes toward.

📖 5. Basketball jump shot analysis

🔑 Key Concepts & Definitions

• Knee extension: Knee extension is the joint action that decreases the bend at the knee during the jump.
• Elbow extension: Elbow extension is the joint action that straightens the elbow during the shooting action.

📝 Essential Points

• The jump shot mainly occurs in the sagittal plane for knee, hip, and elbow flexion/extension.
• Knee extension happens as the player jumps.
• Elbow extension occurs during the shooting action.
• Plant ar flexion contributes to force production via the gastrocnemius/soleus.

💡 Memory Hook

Jump shot = sagittal cuts + transverse spin-for-flex/extend.

📖 6. Exam-style applications

🔑 Key Concepts & Definitions

• Plantar flexion: Plantar flexion is the action of pointing the toes downward.
• Anteroposterior axis: The anteroposterior axis runs front-to-back and supports the cartwheel’s described abduction/adduction rotation.
• Cartwheel: A cartwheel is used as an example to identify plane and axis in this course material.

📝 Essential Points

• The difference: sagittal divides left/right and links to flexion/extension, while frontal divides front/back and links to abduction/adduction.
• A sporting example of plantar flexion is a sprinter pushing off the starting blocks.
• In this material, a cartwheel is stated to occur in the frontal plane.
• In this material, a cartwheel rotates around the anteroposterior axis.

💡 Memory Hook

Cartwheel = Frontal plane + Anteroposterior axis.

⚠️ Common Pitfalls & Confusions

1. Mixing up superior and posterior is common because both relate to body “back” or “up,” but superior is toward the head and posterior is toward the back.
2. Confusing abduction with adduction often happens when “midline” direction is forgotten, since abduction moves away from the midline and adduction moves toward it.
3. Using the wrong plane for a movement is a frequent error, because sagittal links to flexion/extension while frontal links to abduction/adduction.
4. Students sometimes swap the transverse axis with the anteroposterior axis, even though the transverse axis is side-to-side and the anteroposterior axis is front-to-back.
5. Remembering plantar flexion versus dorsiflexion can be reversed, because plantar flexion points toes downward while dorsiflexion lifts toes upward.
6. Proximal and distal are often mixed up when attachment point direction is ignored, because proximal is closer to attachment and distal is farther away.

✅ Exam Checklist

1. State the anatomical position features used as the reference for directional terms.
2. Define superior and inferior in terms of head versus feet direction.
3. Define anterior and posterior in terms of front versus back direction.
4. Define medial and lateral in terms of the body midline and distance from it.
5. Define proximal and distal as distances relative to the limb attachment point.
6. Identify the sagittal plane division and the movements it supports (flexion/extension).
7. Identify the frontal plane division and the movements it supports (abduction/adduction).
8. Identify the transverse plane division and the movements it supports (rotation and horizontal flexion/extension).
9. State the transverse axis direction and the movements it supports (flexion/extension).
10. State the anteroposterior axis direction and the movements it supports (abduction/adduction).
11. Define flexion, extension, abduction, adduction, and rotation by what happens to the angle or midline relationship.
12. State what circumduction combines and list the four component movements.
13. Define plantar flexion and dorsiflexion using toes-up versus toes-down direction.
14. For the basketball jump shot, name the main plane and the axis used for flexion/extension.