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A thletics , gymnastics , cricket , football , hockey … What comes to your mind when you hear these words ? Does the words ‘ Science ’ or ‘ Engineering ’ ever come up ? Maybe not . But after learning the connection between sports and biomedical engineering this may change .
Sports biomechanics is the field in Biomedical Engineering that relates sports and life sciences with engineering by applying the principles of Physics and Mechanics to analyze human movement and understanding why the motion of the human body happens in the way it does . Throughout history , there are many examples to show how biomechanics has gone hand in hand with sports . The most significant example known to all Sri Lankans most probably is the official report given by match referee , Chris Broad to cricket player , Muttiah Muralitharan for illegal bending of the arm at the elbow when bowling during Australia ’ s tour of Sri Lanka in 2004 . After undergoing biomechanical tests at the University of Western Australia ( UWA ), it was revealed that Murali straightens his arm at an average of 10 degrees before delivering a ball . The allowable elbow extension was only 5 degrees for spin bowlers at that era . Murali was instructed not to use his doosra bowling technique in international cricket . But later after more research , the International Cricket Council ( ICC ) proposed a rule change , set a limit of 15 degrees of elbow straightening for all bowlers and Murali ’ s doosra became legal again .
In the 1970s , Bill Koch , an American cross-country skier introduced a new skating technique which was very different to the traditional diagonal stride skiing technique used by other crosscountry skiers . Koch won the silver medal in the 30K cross-country skiing event in the 1976 Olympic Games in Innsbruck , Austria and he also became the first American to win the World Cup during his performances in the 1982-1983 season using this new skiing technique . Later skaters were allowed to compete in two separate competitions as the traditional style and the freestyle . This technique may be developed by Koch through observation and trial and error . Knowingly or unknowingly all around the world improved techniques are introduced frequently for different sports . But , people working in the biomechanics field believe that these techniques may be introduced sooner in a more efficient manner if sports coaches and sportsmen had some knowledge of biomechanics .
In sports , the knowledge of biomechanics is considered to be very important as it is the most common method used to improve an athlete ’ s performance and also to identify injuries and treat them . A coach may use the assistance of sports biomedical engineers to teach his athlete the best way to develop a skill . When a coach knows about the forces that act on bones , muscles , tendons and ligaments and its effects , it clearly becomes an advantage to his athlete over another competitor who does not have an understanding of biomechanics . A coach can also use the knowledge of biomechanics to decide what the sports movements and exercises are the best to be used for a training session . An athlete will be motivated to practice a skill in a specific way if he knows that it would be an advantage to him .
Clinical gait analysis is one of the most important techniques used in Sports Biomechanics . This includes measuring of parameters that characterize the gait pattern of a person , interpreting the collected and processed data and recommending treatment alternatives . Specialized , computer-interfaced video
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