There are several major categories of research that apply to the sports world. Fairly common is the biomechanics of skills or movement patterns such as running and throwing. One type of research that is relatively new and practical is the biomechanics of sports technique.
This type of the research differs from the biomechanics of a skill or more typically, a movement pattern. When a biomechanist analyzes a skill or movement pattern such as running, he does it in terms that are applicable to the general pattern that all runners use or should use. The analysis is not specific to an individual to determine how he or she executes the run. There is no pointing out of effective and ineffective actions or how the run can be improved by changing the specific technique involved. This is where the biomechanics of sports technique comes into play.
In this research high-speed filming of an athlete performing a particular skill such as sprinting or throwing a baseball is done. The film is then analyzed frame by frame to determine the joint actions that take place, which muscles are involved, how these muscles are involved, the role played by each action, whether the movements are executed most effectively or efficiently and whether the movement can be made more mechanically effective.
The goal of this analysis, which is the crux of this research method, is to determine if and how the skill movement can be made more effective. In other words, how can the specific joint or joint actions be improved in order to make the athlete a better runner or thrower etc. It gives the coach or athlete the ability to improve technique which is the most important aspect of most athletes’ performance in all sports.
Understand that the bottom line in all sports is that the athlete must be able to execute the skills involved in his sport. Not only is the execution important, but how effectively execution of the skill is carried out is usually the key to how effective the athlete is in that particular sport. His physical abilities such as strength, explosive power, speed etc. relate to how effectively he executes the skill. This is the purpose of conditioning and specialized exercises: enhancement of skill execution.
The biomechanical analysis of sports technique can tell the coach or athlete whether specific muscles need greater absolute or explosive strength, greater flexibility in specific joint actions, exactly which aspect of the total technique is in need of improvement and exactly which qualities are lacking. Such analyses provide factual reasons to substantiate the training program that follows.
Based on the biomechanical analysis of the skill technique the goal of the training then becomes very specific. All the training is devoted to improving the athlete’s technical and physical abilities in order to improve his performance on the field, court or ring. There should be exercises devoted to correction or adjustment of technique in which the athlete performs specific joint actions to strengthen the muscles involved in that particular action. These are specialized exercises (dynamic correspondence exercises) that duplicate what occurs in execution of the skill in competition.
In order to do such biomechanical analyses of sports technique, the researcher must have a thorough understanding of what constitutes effective technique. Without this understanding it is impossible to analyze and explain what occurs in skill execution. Nor is it possible to prescribe the training program that is needed to correct and improve the athlete and his performance. Because of the considerable knowledge and experience needed in this type of research the number of qualified individuals is limited.
To correct this problem more people have to be trained in this specialized field of research. Only in this way can the researcher can make an appreciable difference in the training of athletes, not only on the youth level where it is extremely important, but also on the high school, collegiate and professional levels.
For more information in this area see Build a Better Athlete and Secrets of Russian Sports Fitness and Training