Objectives: It is important to clarify masticatory muscle activity during exercise to understand conservation of the stomatognathic system in athletes and physically active adults. We attempted to clarify the effect of masticatory muscle activity on swing and impact in Golf players.Methods: Eight males, 22 to 40 years old, without any mandibular dysfunction were included as subjects after giving informed consent. The bilateral masticatory muscles (temporalis: TM, masseter: MM, and digastric muscles: DM) were measured independ by EMG, the root mean square value (RMS) was calculated and analyzed, using a data inclusion and multi-telemeter analysis system (WEB-5000, NihonKoden, Tokyo). Masticatory muscle activity from the start of the golf swing to ball impact was measured 5 times, and also during mastication of peanuts was measured 3 times, with the mean of the results used as the representative value. Muscle activities of TM and MM during maximal voluntary clenching (MVC), and of the DM during exertion of resistance against forced mouth opening (MVO) were measured as controls.Results: The muscle activities of the TM and MM from starting the golf swing to ball impact was 9.4±8.0 and 8.0±3.5, while those during MVC were 37.9±19.6 and 25.3±17.7, and during mastication of peanuts, the muscle activities were 12.1±7.9 and 6.0±4.1, respectively. For both muscles, a significant difference in muscle activity was observed between that during the swing and that during MVC (p<0.01, ANOVA, Tukey-Kramer's method). The muscle activity of the DM was nearly the same during the swing and during MVO(15.4±6.1 vs. 15.6±6.0).Conclusion: As observed above, TM and MM were about 30-40% of those during MVC, but that of DM was similar to or greater than that during MVO during swing.

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