Biomechanics Case Study

807 Words2 Pages

Nicholas Van Horssen
Lenka Beranova
KIN 105
12 April 2017
Chapter 9 Extra Credit
In what ways has the study of biomechanics contributed to a broader understanding of factors important for improving performance in sport and athletic competition?

Biomechanics can be defined as: the study of the mechanical laws relating to the movement or structure of living organisms. One of the main concentrations within biomechanics to improve performance and competition is to work on an athlete's technique. Working on technique can be broken down into two teaching styles. The first is when a coach and athlete work together using their knowledge of biomechanics to improve physical fitness and skill level, the other is when a researcher discovers some new type of movement or exercise that can improve an athlete’s performance. In the first instance, for example, a football player may be having trouble being explosive through a play. His coach may tell him to make sure to toe strike and engage your hips and explode through your legs. Toe striking will make sure that the player has an affective forward lean. Engaging the hip muscles will allow the player to drive his power from the strongest muscle group in his body. Driving through the legs …show more content…

If an athlete is injured, it is very easy to use biomechanics to determine what happened and how to properly heal the injury. For example, if a runner has knee pain then the athlete can record themselves running and qualitatively see how their biomechanics look. The athlete may be able to determine of their stride is off balance, if the run with their feet pointed out, if the look their knees too early, etc. Biomechanics are crucial in sports because they assist in improving athlete’s abilities and preventing those athletes from becoming injured due to overuse

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