Introduction to Sports Biomechanics: Analysing Human Movement ...

INTRODUCTION
INTRODUCTION TO SPORTS BIOMECHANICS
1 Movement patterns
– the essence of
sports biomechanics
Introduction 1
Defining human
movements 3
Some fundamental
movements 8
Movement patterns 35
Comparison of
qualitative and
quantitative
movement analysis 36
Summary 40
Study tasks 40
Glossary of
important terms 41
Further reading 42
Knowledge assumed
Familiarity with human
movement in sport
Ability to undertake simple
analysis of videos of sports
movements
What were my reasons for choosing the title of this book and the name of this chapter?
Well, after teaching, researching and consulting in sports biomechanics for over
30 years, my definition of the term has become, quite simply, ‘the study and analysis of
human movement patterns in sport’.
Nothing about ‘the scientific methods of mechanics’ or ‘the effects of various forces’
or ‘Newton’s laws’ or vectors or . . .? No, nothing like that – just ‘the study and analysis
of human movement patterns in sport’. Sounds exciting, doesn’t it? Indeed it is – a
wealth of fascination. So, let us begin our journey.
Having offered my definition of sports biomechanics, it becomes obvious what
sports biomechanists do – we study and analyse human movement patterns in sport.
But why do we do it? Well, the usual reasons are:
1