Sports Biomechanics studies the movements of man in the process of physical activity both to improve sports performance, avoid injuries, develop training techniques and design high-performance accessories, materials and equipment, as well as to establish more efficient and objective rehabilitation processes. in sick or disabled people.
Summary
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- 1 story
- 2 Object of study and fundamental problem
- 1 Partial tasks
- 3 Scientific foundation
- 4 Importance of biomechanical knowledge in sport
- 5 For the Physical Education teacher, the coach and the rehabilitator
- 1 For the student, the athlete and the patient
- 6 Current results and trends
- 7 Bibliography
- 8 sources
History
With the development of society, knowledge grows constantly and with it the implementation of science systems and technical innovations, where the Biomechanics of physical exercise gains strength. In the particular case of sports, it is known by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) as one of the best alternatives to increase performance in sports.
From prehistoric times drawings representing human and animal locomotion have been known. However, it was not until the 19th century that it gained momentum with the appearance of the first studies using film cameras whose objective was to record locomotion patterns in animals and humans. Progress in this area of movement analysis (biomechanics) has been rapid during the 20th century and it is now possible to record and analyze any event, from the walking of a child with cerebral palsy to the performance of a high-performance athlete. .
In the 1950s, Biomechanics emerged as an important area of scientific research in various disciplines of knowledge based on studies using the nascent high-speed cinematography.
Currently, there is an innumerable number of teaching and research centers that develop the use of the analysis and projection of human movement at the scientific and academic levels. The distribution of areas that develop this science is also large: Sports Careers and Physical Education , Sports Training, Mechanical and Industrial Engineering , Space Engineering , Biomedical Sciences , Systems Engineering, Human Performance Sciences , Anthropology , Medical Research Centers, Biology , Zoology , and Marine Sciences among others.
It is undeniable that this scientific discipline experienced a great boom after its I World Congress, held in the German city of Leipzig in 1960, because in response to the real advantage of the Eastern countries is that the IOC projects itself in the search of alternatives to doping, such as Biomechanics, capable of improving sports performance, which was the starting signal to mobilize resources from Western Europe and especially from the United States .
The maximum expression of world organization with an institutional character is located in the International Society of Biomechanics (ISB), founded in 1973 at Penn State University, United States and with more than 1000 affiliated scientists around the world with a financial headquarters in Australia and a virtual headquarters in the USA
Object of study and fundamental problem
Biomechanics is a scientific discipline that studies human movement in the practice of physical exercises. Analyzes the motor actions of man as a reciprocally related active movement system. Investigate the mechanical and biological causes of movements and the particularities of the motor actions that depend on them in different conditions.
Its fundamental problem is the study of the motor actions and the particularities of the dynamic and space-time structures of the executions of man in the practice of physical activity, with the purpose of perfecting their movements.
partial tasks
The partial tasks of the biomechanics of physical exercises consist of the study of:
- a) Structure, properties and functions of the human body.
b) Rational technique for carrying out the movements.
c) Technical improvement
scientific foundation
Current trends in research in sports and physical activity have led to an attempt to delve deeper into the study of the efficacy criteria that affect the performance of physical exercises in general and sports performance in particular.
Using state-of-the-art technology in training control is one of the demands of contemporary sport that representatives of sports biomechanics attend to. Currently there is a fusion between the different research methods taken from Physiology , Biomechanics , Morphology , and Psychologywith a strong tendency to use increasingly powerful scientific instruments. Biomechanical analysis allows the study of human movement from a scientific perspective, for which it is necessary to use image capture systems in 2D (two dimensions) and 3D (three dimensions) coordinates, which define the structure of the human body for subsequent analysis. and graphic display.
One of the most useful tools for analyzing human movement in detail is videography. It is a method of capturing and processing digital images that allows assessing the quality of the technical execution of the movement (if it is carried out without technical errors and without harmful movement patterns). It consists of recording the individual performing the movement with markers attached to the body and building a three-dimensional animation from the images. Just as three-dimensional (3D) filming techniques have developed vertiginously, the design of high-tech research complexes has evolved, part of them based on the use of logical and physical supports (software and hardware ) that regulate, automate and rigorously control the process of obtaining data, treatment and presentation of the results, which are highly expensive due to the specific and closed nature of their market.
It is opportune to clarify that by itself this method is not sufficiently complete. It is necessary to complement it with a study of the qualitative level where the observation and description of the movement are combined in order to draw the appropriate conclusions and make the pertinent proposals of each study.
Importance of biomechanical knowledge in sport
In general, any person who is dedicated to teaching, practicing or using physical exercise must have a certain command of Biomechanics. Its importance is common to all, since it is about using it with the aim of perfecting the system of man’s movements, whatever the purpose. However, due to the way it is used, two large groups can be distinguished: the Physical Education teacher, the coach and the rehabilitator, as well as the student, the athlete and the patient.
For the Physical Education teacher, the trainer and the rehabilitator
Here the knowledge of Biomechanics gains greater strength for pedagogical purposes, since in all cases, they must teach the correct way to perform the exercise. An integral knowledge of Biomechanics allows to conceive more complete and objective teaching, training and rehabilitation plans, at the same time that the control of execution of the movement technique is more rigorous. For the specific case of the rehabilitator, knowing the appropriate technique for carrying out the exercise, the limitations of the patients and the diagnosis of the pathology that must be addressed is vital for the rehabilitator, as it allows him or her to adjust and/or plan the rehabilitation system. activities more efficiently and individually.
For the student, the athlete and the patient
When you have a clear understanding of the details and causes that can improve or worsen your movement, you can improve your technique. Being aware of the performance of the exercises, their motor possibilities and types, as well as the knowledge of the most rational and correct way of execution, allow them to cooperate in the learning process. From this point of view, Biomechanics is a very valuable instrument, both to achieve better results and to prevent possible injuries.
Current results and trends
The advances in science and technology in the middle of the 20th century, which began to be achieved in sports, medicine and other sciences, mark an important stage in the development of this science. It is worth mentioning the beginning of the stage of space flights, where great problems must be solved, among others due to the antigravity state and the foundation of the International Society of Biomechanics.
Biomechanics is one of the sciences that has laid the scientific foundations for true technical training. In the historical course of sport there are valuable experiences of increased performance from the effective support of science. The great popularity achieved by the Olympic Games and the dispute for the first places. The Helsinki Olympics ( 1952), where the countries of the former socialist camp led, constitute a good example. From them, a new global sports scientific paradigm can be framed.
After which the rest of the countries of the world, especially the most developed ones, began to submit requests to scientists to develop new technologies, which necessarily led to the consolidation, first, of the research methods of sciences applied to sport and, secondly, place its derivation to the control of the effects of training. Today it is recognized that behind every sporting result in the international arena is not only the experience and intuition of the coach, but also the necessary application of science as a productive force in sport.
In the mid- 1980s , there was a boom in the development of specialized software, the use of digitizers to capture data from the film of a movement, the use of interpolation methods for data adjustment, the beginning of the use of two cameras for 3D analysis, as well as the development of video tape for use in kinematic analysis.
The knowledge acquired through sports biomechanics allows, among other aspects, to develop research aimed at establishing the most effective technique of movements, to approach the study with a scientific sense, to obtain instantaneous and objective information, to detect errors or insufficiencies and to establish special exercises aimed at perfecting motor action.
The following elements constitute perspectives of biomechanics, in which, although most of them have been explored, their development continues in correspondence with the growing technical scientific development:
- The theoretical adjustment necessary to assimilate new methods and techniques of virtual image processing (the so-called virtual reality).
- real-time processing.
- The continuation of physical, mathematical and theoretical modeling of movements in each sport.
- The design and construction of new measurement systems, increasingly precise and fast.
- The design and construction of implements, mechanical accessories, etc., including those used in sports for the disabled, as well as exercise and simulation devices.
- The improvement of teaching and the adoption of didactic methods with the use of new technical means
- The elucidation of the origin of muscle contraction and the mechanical action of muscles.
- Deepening in physical preparation in general and conditioning for motor learning, based on injury prevention, health improvements and quality of life.
