The Importance of Biomechanics in Sport

Biomechanics is the scientific study of the physical movement and the structure of living creature according to Oxford Advanced learners Dictionary. But according to www.topendsport.com biomechanics is the sport science field that applies the laws of mechanics and physics to human performance, in order to gain a greater understanding of performance in athletic events through modelling, simulation and measurement. It is also necessary to have a good understanding of the application of physics to sport, as physical principles such as motion, resistance, momentum and friction play a part in most sporting events. Biomechanics is a diverse interdisciplinary field, with branches in Zoology, Botany, Physical Anthropology, Orthopaedics, Bioengineering and Human Performance. The general role of Biomechanics is to understand the mechanical cause-effect relationships that determine the motions of living organisms. In relation to sport, Biomechanics contributes to the description, explanation, and prediction of the mechanical aspects of human exercise, sport and play. Under sport biomechanics, there is sport specific. There are multiple applications of physics in sports, here are just a few examples. In American Football, physics of collision occurs. In athletics, concept of physics involve are running in lane one and the high jump. For baseball is physics of ball throwing. As for cycling, wheel design and aerodynamics. Gymnastic has the role of angular momentum and gymnastic rotation. Moving on low friction surface is under ice hockey while field hockey is effect of friction. When it comes to soccer, bending like Beckham which is swerve shooting. Actually there are many biomechanics in sport but all of these are just examples which are taken from famous sports play by people around the world and worldwide. And now, we will go deeper about the definition itself. The word biomechanics can be divided into two parts: the prefix bio- and the root word mechanics. The root word mechanic indicates that biomechanics has something to do with the analysis of forces and their effects. So it appears that BIOMECHANICS is the study of forces and their effects on living systems. This comes very close to the definition of biomechanics presented by Herbert Hatze in 1974: Biomechanics is the study of the structure and the function of biological systems by means of the methods of mechanics. This is much broader field study than anyone first thought.

The study of the structure and function of plants as well as animal is encompassed by the definition of biomechanics. What is the importance of biomechanics or what is the goal of sport biomechanics? First of all is performance improvement. A secondary goal is injury prevention and rehabilitation. The secondary goal is closely related to the first and could almost be considered part of primary goal, because uninjured athlete will perform better than an injured athlete. Next is technique improvement as it is one of the important things in sport biomechanics. The most common method for improving performance in many sports is to improve an athletes technique. This was highlighted as one motivation for studying biomechanics, and it is probably what you thought of when asked how a biomechanist went about to trying to improve an athletes performance. The application of biomechanics to improve technique may occur in two ways: Teachers and coaches may use their knowledge of mechanics to correct action of student or athlete in order to improve the execution of skill, or a biomechanics researcher may discover a new and more effective technique for performing sport skills in the first instance, teachers and coaches use qualitative biomechanical analysis methods in their everyday teaching and coaching to effect changes in technique. In the second instance, a biomechanics researchers uses quantitative biomechanical analysis methods to discover new techniques, which then must be communicates to the teachers and coaches who will implement them. Lets look at simple example of the first case. As a coach, you observe that your gymnast is having difficulty completing a double somersault in the floor exercise. You might suggest three things to the gymnast to help her successfully complete the stunt: (1) jump higher (2) tuck tighter and (3) swing her arm more vigorously before take-off. These suggestions may all result in improved performance and are based on biomechanics principle. Jumping higher will give the gymnast more time in the air to complete the somersault. Tucking tighter will cause the gymnast to rotate faster due to conservation of angular momentum. Swinging arm more vigorously prior take-off will generate more angular momentum, thus also cause the gymnast to rotate faster. This general procedure is the most common type of situation where biomechanics has effect on the outcome skill. Coaches and teachers use biomechanics to determine what action may improve performance.

The second general situation in which biomechanics contributes to improved performance through improved technique occurs when biomechanics researchers develop new and more effective techniques. Despite the common belief that new and revolutionary technique regularly developed by biomechanists, such development are rare. Perhaps this is because biomechanics research as a discipline is the discovery of small refinements in technique. One example of biomechanics research that did greatly affect the technique and performances in a sport occurred in swimming in the late 60s and early 70s. research done by Ronald Brown and James Doc Counsilman (1971) indicates that lift forces acting on the hand as it moved through water were much more important in propelling a swimmer through the water than previously thought. This research indicated that rather than pulling the hand in a straight line backward through the water to produce propulsive drag force, the swimmer should move the hand back and forth in sweeping action as it is pulled backward through the water to produce propulsive lift forces as well as propulsive drag force. This technique is now taught by swimming teachers and coaches around the world. Other examples of sports in which dramatic changes in technique produced dramatic improvement in performance including javelin throwing, high jumping and cross-country skiing. In 1956, prior to the Olympic Games in Melbourne, Felix Erausqiuin, a javelin thrower from Basque region in Spain, experimented with an unconventional way of throwing the javelin. Rather than throwing it over the shoulder with one hand from run, Erausquin spun around like a hammer thrower and slung the javelin from both hands, which guided the implement. To reduce the frictional forces acting on the javelin as it slid through his hands, the javelin was dunk in soapy water to make it slippery. The outstanding results achieved by Erausquin with his technique attracted international attention (he had several throws beyond the existing world record). The international Amateur Athletic Federation (IAAF), the governing body of track and field, became so alarmed that they altered the rules for event, and this unconventional technique become illegal. Current IAAF rules require athlete to throw the javelin over the shoulder with one hand. In 1968, most world-class high jumpers used the straddle technique. But in Olympics in Mexico City, the gold medallist in the high jump used a technique few had ever seen. Dick Fosburry, an American from Oregon State University, used a back layout technique to jump 7ft 4-1/4 in (2.14m). This technique becomes known as the Fosbury Flop. Its advantages over the straddle technique were its faster approach run and its ease of learning. No biomechanics researcher developed this technique. Fosbury achieved success with it in high school and

continued using and jumping higher with it, despite its dramatic differences from the conventional straddle technique. His success led others to adopt it, and know all world-class high jumpers use the Fosbury Flop. In the late 1970s, Bill Koch, an American cross-country skier, began experimenting with new technique he had observed marathon skiers using in Europe. The skating technique he experimented with was much different from traditional diagonal stride skiing technique in which cross-country skier moved their parallel to each other in set tracks. In the 1976 Olympics Games in Innbruck, Austria, Koch surprised the world by winning silver medal in 30K cross-country skiing event. More surprising were his performances in the 1982 to 83 seasons, when he became the first American ever to win the World Cup. Koch used the skating technique in achieving this title. By mid-1980s, the skating technique was used virtually all elite Nordic ski racers. Beginning with 1992 Winter Olympics, there were separate competition for traditional (diagonal stride) and freestyle (skating) cross-country skiing. With the exception of the swimming example the above examples of new and dramatically different technique leading to improved performances all happened without apparent assistance of biomechanics. Maybe this is evidence of the skill of teachers, coaches and the athletes. Through repeated observation trial and error, and possibly some application of mechanicals principles, they have successfully developed excellent techniques for performing skills in most sport without the assistance of biomechanical researchers. But perhaps these improved techniques would have been developed sooner if more teachers and coaches had a working knowledge of biomechanics. How else can biomechanics contribute to the performance improvement? What about improved designs for the equipment used in various sport? Shoes and apparel constitute the equipment used in almost every sport. The equipment worn may have effect on the performance, either directly or through injury prevention. Besides shoes and apparels, many sports require the use of some sort of implement. Think of sports in which an implement is used. How have changes in sport implements changed the performance of these sports? What about cycling, skating, skiing,? Lighter and better-designed implements have not only contributed to improved performances by elite athletes in these sports, they have contributes to improve performances by recreational participant as well.

Javelin throwing as an example of a sport where a basic application of mechanics to the equipment design changed the event dramatically. In 1952, Frank Bud Held made the United States Olympics team in the javelin. At the 1952 Olympics in Helsinki, he placed ninth behind his American teammates, who won the gold and silver medals, upon returning to the United States, Bud met with his brother , Dick Held, who had some engineering expertise, and together they designed and built a more aerodynamic javelin. They increased surface area of their new javelin gave it more lift, causing it to fly farther. In 1953, Bud Held used one of his javelins to break the existing world record for the javelin throw. The Held brothers were not biomechanists, but their knowledge about mechanics enabled them to improve the design of javelin. The record continued to be broken as others began using the Held javelin. In 1955, the IAAF implemented the rules that limited the size of the javelin so the further increases in its surface area and lift were constrained. Prior to 1953, the world record in the javelin was 258ft 2-3/8 in (78.70m), set in 1983. Using modern aerodynamic javelin based on the Held design, the world record in the event eventually progressed to 343ft 10 in (104.80 m) in 1984. In 1986, the IAAF effectively reduced the distance of the javelin throw by again changing the rules governing construction of the javelin from sailing so far. Despite this attempt to limit performances, by 1990 the world record with the new javelin exceed 300ft (91.44m), and by the turn of century, the record was 323ft 1 in (98.48m). This is example of mechanics being applied to limit performances in a sport. The rules makers in many sports, including such popular sports as golf, tennis, cycling, and baseball, regulate the designs of the equipment used in their sports to keep the sport challenging. In spite of these efforts, recent innovations in equipment design have major impacts on the record books in recent Olympics Games. A number of world records were set in speed skating at 1998 Winter Olympics in Sapporo, Japan, when the Klap skate made it first widespread debut. During that year, world records were set in all debuts but 1 of the 10 long track speed skating events (men and women). The full-body shark swimsuit had a similar effect on the swimming events in the 2000 Olympics Games in Sydney.

How else biomechanics contribute to improved performance in sports and physical activities? What about training? Biomechanics has the potential of leading to modifications in training and thus improvements in performance. This application of biomechanics can occur in several ways. An analysis of the technique deficiencies of an athlete can assist the coach or teacher in identifying the type of training the athlete need to improve. The athlete may be limited by strength or endurance of certain muscle groups, by the speed of movement, or by one specific aspect of his or her technique. Sometimes, the limitation may be obvious. For example, a gymnast attempting an iron cross manoeuvre requires tremendous strength in the adductor muscles of the shoulder. A mechanical analysis of the maneuvor would reveal this, but it is already obvious to gymnastic coaches and observers. In other sport skills, the strength retirement maybe not obvious.