FUNDAMENTALS OF KINESIOLOGY AND BIOMECHANICS IN SPORTS
Kinesiology is the study of human movement and muscular function. It is also called human kinetics.
whereas biomechanics is the study of forces and the application of principle of physics and their
effect on the human body.
In Greek, Kinesis- movement, logio- study
IMPORTANCE OF KINESIOLOGY:
1. Helps coaches/ trainers/ physical education trainers to analyse human movement
2. Helps coaches or teachers to choose exercises to achieve targeted aims for an individual,
thereby improving their motor skills.
3. Helps prevent injuries; one can understand the nature and mechanism of common
musculoskeletal injuries.
4. Helps to correct irregular movements so that movement efficiency can be achieved.
5. Helps to identify errors in posture through posture analysis and helps to correct it through
corrective exercises.
Biomechanics
Mechanics: 2 categories
i) static; when the system is at rest or moving with constant velocity
ii) dynamic; when the system is in motion (includes kinematics and kinetics)
a) kinematics- study of motion of bodies;
Fundamental kinematic quantities: time, position, displacement, velocity and acceleration
b) kinetics- study of forces associated with the motion (includes newtons 3 laws of motion)
IMPORTANCE OF BIOMECHANICS:
1. Helps in the development of motor abilities
2. For diagnostic teaching and coaching
3. For the self-evaluation of athletes
4. Not only helps to design equipment, but also to measure the efficiency of the equipment.
5. Helps to understand athletic performance, therefore rules and regulations can be modified
for the safety of the athlete.
PRINCIPLES OF BIOMECHANICS:
Principle of Force-motion; it states that it takes unbalanced forces to create or modify motion
Principle of Force-time; it states that movement depends on the time of application of force
Principle of Inertia; property to resist change in the state of motion.
Linear inertia measures mass.
Angular inertia measures moment of inertia.
Principle of Range of motion; it is the overall motion used in the movement of the body.
ex- Reduced range of motion- throwing a dart
increased range of motion- throwing a javelin
Principle of Balance; ability of a person to control their body position relative to some support base
Stability and mobility are inversely proportional
Principle of coordination continuum; the timing of muscle action depends on the movements goal
Principle of segmental interaction; forces acting on a system of linked rigid bodies can be transferred
through the links
Principle of optimal projection; the optimal range of angle of projection for human movements
involves projectiles.
Maximum speed of optimal angles = 45 degrees
Principle of spin; it applies to projectiles, particularly sports balls.
*A complex motion of an object can be resolved into the linear motion of the centre of mass and
angular motion about the centre of mass.
MOVEMENT:
the act of moving or change in position of an object
The movement produced by the human body due to contraction of muscles and bending of bone
joints- human movement
Controlled by the nervous system
incorporate muscles, joints, ligaments, bones.
*Movement is one thing that differentiates living things and non-living things
Locomotion- movement that results in change in position of a whole organism
Types of movements:
1. Flexion: Decreasing the angle at moving joint
2. Extension: Increasing the angle at moving joint
3. Abduction: moving limb away from body centreline
4. Adduction: moving limb towards body centreline
5. Rotation: movement around long axis
6. Circumduction: involves flexion, extension, abduction and adduction (ball and socket joints)
7. Pronation: turning palm down
8. Supination: turning palm upwards
PLANES AND AXES
Planes divide the body into 2 parts
Axis is a line around which movement of a body segment occurs.
