| What
is Biomechanics?
The word 'biomechanics' is derived from
the Greek bios meaning life and mekhaniki meaning mechanics,
so that biomechanics may said to be the study of the mechanics
of life forms. The extent of this subject area is evident
in research of plants, insects, reptiles, dinosaurs, birds,
fish, whales, elephants, kangaroos.....and humans. In the
biomechanics of humans, topics range from the mechanics
of bone, tooth, muscle, tendon, ligament, cartilage, skin,
prostheses, blood flow, air flow, eye movement, joint
movement to whole body movement. In human movement biomechanics,
topics include injury, clinical assessment, rehabilitation,
ergonomics and sport.
Sports biomechanics uses the scientific
methods of mechanics to study the effects of various forces
on the sports performer. It is concerned, in particular,
with the forces that act on the human neuromusculoskeletal
system, velocities, accelerations, torque, momentum, and
inertia. It also considers aspects of the behavior of
sports implements, footwear and surfaces where these affect
athletic performance or injury prevention. Sports biomechanics
can be divided up into two sections:
Performance Improvement & Injury Prevention
With the help of Quintic,
we aim to provide answers to performance related topics such as:
- What is the best run-up for a high
jumper?
- How should they knee angle be modified
for the delivery stride of a fast bowler in cricket?
- What is the velocity of the swimmer
after the tumble turn?
These questions are of the form: What
is done? How is it done? Why does it work? The answers
to What? How? and Why? are important to the athlete, coach
and scientist, respectively...
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