Introduction to Sports Biomechanics: Analysing Human Movement ...

Introduction
MISSING TEXT
The first three chapters of this book focus mainly on qualitative analysis of sports
movements. Chapter 1 starts by outlining a novel approach to sports biomechanics and
establishing that our focus in this chapter is the qualitative analysis of human movement
patterns in sport. I will define movements in the sagittal plane and touch on those
in the frontal and horizontal planes. We will then consider the constraints-led approach
to studying human movements, and go on to look at examples of walking, running,
jumping and throwing, including the subdivision of these fundamental movements
into phases. In these movements, we will compare movement patterns between
ages, sexes, footwear, inclines and tasks. The chapter concludes with a comparison of
qualitative and quantitative analysis, looking at their background, uses, and strengths
and weaknesses.
Chapter 2 considers how qualitative biomechanical analysis of movement is part of a
multidisciplinary approach to movement analysis. We will look at several structured
approaches to qualitative analysis of movement, all of which have, at their core, the
identification of critical features of the movement studied. We will identify four stages
in a structured approach to movement analysis, consider the main aspects of each stage
and note that the value of each stage depends on how well the previous stages have been
implemented. We will see that the most crucial step in the whole approach is how to
identify the critical features of a movement, and we will look at several ways of
doing this, none of which is foolproof. We will work through a detailed example of the
best approach, using deterministic models, and consider the ‘movement principles’
approach and the role of phase analysis of movement.
Chapter 3 covers the principles of kinematics – the geometry of movement – which
are important for the study of movement in sport and exercise. Our focus will be very
strongly on movement patterns and their qualitative interpretation. Several other forms
of movement pattern will be introduced, explained and explored – including stick
figures, time-series graphs, angle–angle diagrams and phase planes. We will consider the
types of motion and the model appropriate to each. The importance of being able to
interpret graphical patterns of linear or angular displacement and to infer from these the
geometry of the velocity and acceleration patterns will be stressed. We will look at two
ways of assessing joint coordination using angle–angle diagrams and, through phase
planes, relative phase, and we will briefly touch on the strengths and weaknesses of these
xix