How can coaches leverage sport mechanics to improve athlete performance. What are the fundamental principles of sport biomechanics. How can mechanical knowledge be applied to various sports and techniques. What methods can coaches use to analyze and correct movement errors.
The Fundamentals of Sport Mechanics for Coaches
Sport mechanics is a crucial aspect of athletic performance that coaches often overlook due to its perceived complexity. However, understanding the basic principles of biomechanics can significantly enhance coaching effectiveness and athlete development. The third edition of “Sport Mechanics for Coaches” by Brendan Burkett provides an accessible introduction to this field, tailored specifically for coaches and athletes.
Burkett, a Paralympic gold medalist and professor of biomechanics, brings a unique perspective to the subject, combining practical experience with academic expertise. His approach makes the often-intimidating world of sport mechanics approachable and applicable for coaches at all levels.
Key Components of Sport Mechanics
- Forces and their effects on movement
- Momentum and impulse in athletic performance
- Work, power, and energy concepts
- Rotational motion and lever systems
- Stability and balance in sports
- Fluid dynamics in air and water sports
Understanding these components allows coaches to analyze movement patterns, identify inefficiencies, and develop strategies for improvement. By breaking down complex motions into manageable parts, coaches can provide more targeted and effective feedback to their athletes.
Technological Advancements in Sport Mechanics
Since the previous edition, significant technological progress has expanded the tools available to coaches and athletes. The latest version of “Sport Mechanics for Coaches” incorporates these advancements, demonstrating how modern technology can be integrated into training and performance analysis.
Innovative Tools for Coaches
- High-speed video analysis software
- Wearable motion sensors
- Force plate systems for ground reaction force measurement
- 3D motion capture technology
- Biomechanical modeling software
These tools enable coaches to gather precise data on an athlete’s movement patterns, allowing for more accurate analysis and targeted improvements. How can coaches effectively incorporate these technologies into their practice? By starting with the basics and gradually integrating more advanced tools as their understanding of sport mechanics grows.
Applying Mechanical Principles to Sport Contexts
One of the strengths of Burkett’s approach is the emphasis on practical application. The book is divided into three main sections, with the final part focusing on how to apply mechanical knowledge to real-world sporting situations.
Analyzing Sport Skills
Coaches can follow a systematic approach to analyze sport skills:
- Determine the objectives of the skill
- Identify special characteristics
- Study top-level performances
- Divide the skill into phases
- Break down each phase into key objectives
- Understand the mechanical reasons behind each element
This structured method allows coaches to dissect complex movements and understand the underlying mechanics driving successful performance. How does this analysis process benefit athletes? By providing a clear framework for improvement, athletes can focus on specific aspects of their technique, leading to more efficient skill development.
Identifying and Correcting Errors in Sport Skills
A crucial aspect of coaching is the ability to identify and correct errors in an athlete’s technique. Burkett outlines a step-by-step process for this critical task:
- Observe the complete skill
- Analyze each phase and its key elements
- Apply sport mechanics knowledge to the analysis
- Select errors to be corrected
- Decide on appropriate correction methods
This systematic approach helps coaches move beyond superficial observations to address the root causes of performance issues. What are some common pitfalls in error correction? Coaches should be aware of the tendency to focus on multiple errors simultaneously, which can overwhelm athletes. Instead, prioritizing the most critical errors and addressing them sequentially often leads to better results.
Mechanics of Selected Sport Skills
The book delves into specific applications of sport mechanics across various athletic disciplines. This section provides coaches with concrete examples of how mechanical principles manifest in different sports, allowing for more targeted coaching strategies.
Getting a Move On: Linear Motion in Sports
Linear motion is fundamental to many sports, from sprinting to swimming. Understanding the mechanics of linear movement can help coaches optimize an athlete’s acceleration, top speed, and endurance. What factors influence an athlete’s linear speed? Key elements include ground reaction forces, stride length and frequency, and minimizing air or water resistance.
Rocking and Rolling: Rotational Motion in Sports
Many sports skills involve rotational motion, such as throwing, swinging, or spinning. Coaches who grasp the principles of angular momentum and moment of inertia can help athletes improve their rotational power and control. How can athletes increase their rotational speed? Techniques include adjusting body position to decrease moment of inertia and optimizing the transfer of angular momentum between body segments.
Don’t Be a Pushover: Stability in Sports
Stability is crucial in many sports, from gymnastics to martial arts. Coaches need to understand the factors that influence an athlete’s balance and stability to help them maintain control during complex movements. What are the key components of stability? The size of the base of support, the height of the center of gravity, and the position of the line of gravity all play critical roles in an athlete’s stability.
The Role of Fluid Dynamics in Sport Performance
For sports that involve movement through air or water, understanding fluid dynamics is essential. Burkett’s book covers the principles of drag and lift, which are crucial for optimizing performance in swimming, cycling, and many other sports.
Minimizing Drag in Aquatic Sports
In swimming and other water-based sports, reducing drag is often the key to improving performance. Coaches can help athletes by focusing on:
- Streamlined body positioning
- Efficient stroke mechanics
- Proper breathing techniques
- Underwater dolphin kicks
How does drag affect swimming speed? As an athlete’s speed increases, the drag force increases exponentially, making small improvements in drag reduction particularly impactful at higher speeds.
Optimizing Aerodynamics in Cycling and Winter Sports
For sports like cycling, ski jumping, and speed skating, aerodynamic optimization can lead to significant performance gains. Coaches should consider:
- Body positioning to minimize frontal area
- Equipment design and selection
- Drafting techniques in applicable sports
- Wind tunnel testing for elite athletes
What role does wind resistance play in cycling performance? At speeds above 25 mph, air resistance accounts for over 90% of the total resistance a cyclist must overcome, highlighting the importance of aerodynamic optimization.
Integrating Sport Mechanics into Coaching Practice
While understanding sport mechanics is valuable, the true challenge lies in effectively integrating this knowledge into day-to-day coaching practice. Burkett’s book provides strategies for coaches to gradually incorporate mechanical principles into their training sessions and athlete feedback.
Practical Activities for Coaches and Athletes
The book includes various practical activities that coaches can use to demonstrate mechanical principles and engage athletes in the learning process. These hands-on experiences help bridge the gap between theory and practice, making abstract concepts more tangible for athletes.
Developing a Biomechanically Informed Coaching Eye
One of the most valuable skills a coach can develop is the ability to observe and analyze movement through a biomechanical lens. This involves:
- Practicing systematic observation of movement patterns
- Identifying key mechanical principles at play in different skills
- Developing a vocabulary to communicate mechanical concepts to athletes
- Using video analysis to refine observational skills
How can coaches improve their biomechanical observation skills? Regular practice, collaboration with more experienced coaches, and ongoing education in sport mechanics can all contribute to developing this crucial coaching ability.
The Future of Sport Mechanics in Coaching
As technology continues to advance and our understanding of human biomechanics grows, the field of sport mechanics is likely to play an increasingly important role in coaching and athletic performance. Coaches who embrace these principles and stay current with emerging research and technologies will be well-positioned to help their athletes achieve peak performance.
Emerging Trends in Sport Mechanics
- Artificial intelligence for real-time biomechanical feedback
- Virtual and augmented reality for skill visualization and practice
- Personalized biomechanical modeling for injury prevention
- Integration of cognitive science with biomechanics for holistic performance enhancement
How will these advancements shape the future of coaching? As technology becomes more accessible, coaches at all levels may have the opportunity to provide their athletes with biomechanical insights previously reserved for elite performers.
In conclusion, “Sport Mechanics for Coaches” offers a valuable resource for coaches seeking to enhance their understanding of the mechanical principles underlying athletic performance. By making this complex subject accessible and applicable, Burkett’s work empowers coaches to make more informed decisions, provide better feedback, and ultimately help their athletes reach their full potential.
Sport Mechanics for Coaches 3rd Edition PDF – Human Kinetics
Most coaches are reluctant to study sport mechanics; from experience they equate it with boring texts loaded with formulas, calculations, and scientific terminology. That’s not the case with Sport Mechanics for Coaches. This updated third edition provides an introductory look at the mechanics of sport in a manner that’s understandable and usable for the novices in the field.
Author Brendan Burkett—Paralympic gold medalist and world-record holder—pours his love of sport and his expertise as an award-winning engineer and biomechanics professor into this enhanced, revised, and reformatted text. Divided into three parts covering the fundamentals of sport mechanics, mechanical principles, and application of the knowledge to sport contexts, this text highlights real-life sporting achievements and the mechanics behind them. Various pedagogical aids including review questions and practical activities are featured, allowing students and coaches to gauge their understanding of key concepts chapter by chapter.
Since the previous edition was published, technological advancements have expanded the coach’s and athlete’s toolbox. Sport Mechanics for Coaches includes nearly 150 illustrations and photos and all-new content to help readers understand and incorporate technology and state-of-the-art sport equipment to enhance training, identify errors in technique, and improve performance.
Coaches, students, and athletes with a curiosity about how and why things work in the world of sport and a desire to improve performance will find Sport Mechanics for Coaches refreshingly easy to read, comprehend, and put into practice.
Part I Sport Mechanics Fundamentals
Chapter 1 Making a Smart Move
Sport Mechanics
How Sport Mechanics for Coaches Can Help You
How Sport Mechanics for Coaches Is Organized
Chapter 2 Starting With Basics
Basic Mechanical Principles
The Gravity of the Situation
May the Force Be With You
Part II Mechanical Principles in Sport
Chapter 3 Getting a Move On
How an Athlete Moves (Forces, Momentum, and Impulse)
What Happens When We Move (Work, Power, Energy, Rebound, and Friction)
How to Measure “Getting a Move On” in a Running Gait
Chapter 4 Rocking and Rolling
How an Athlete Rotates (Angular Motion)
Mechanical Principles for Rotation (Lever Systems)
How an Athlete Initiates Rotation
What Happens When We Rotate (Velocity, Force, Inertia, and Momentum)
How to Measure Angular Velocity During Cycling
Chapter 5 Don’t Be a Pushover
How an Athlete Can Avoid Being a Pushover (Stability)
Mechanical Principles for Stability
Factors That Determine Stability
How to Measure Center of Gravity and Line of Gravity
Chapter 6 Going With the Flow
How an Athlete Goes With the Flow
Mechanical Principles for Moving Through a Fluid
Factors That Influence Moving Through Air and Water
Part III Putting Your Knowledge of Sport Mechanics to Work
Chapter 7 Analyzing Sport Skills
Step 1: Determine the Objectives of the Skill
Step 2: Note Any Special Characteristics of the Skill
Step 3: Study Top-Flight Performances of the Skill
Step 4: Divide the Skill Into Phases
Step 5: Divide Each Phase Into Key Objectives
Step 6: Understand the Mechanical Reasons Each Key Element is Performed as It Is
Chapter 8 Identifying and Correcting Errors in Sport Skills
Step 1: Observe the Complete Skill
Step 2: Analyze Each Phase and Its Key Elements
Step 3: Use Your Knowledge of Sport Mechanics in Your Analysis
Step 4: Select Errors to Be Corrected
Step 5: Decide on Appropriate Methods for the Correction of Errors
Chapter 9 Mechanics of Selected Sport Skills
Getting a Move On
Rocking and Rolling
Don’t Be a Pushover
Going With the Flow
Sport mechanics for coaches in SearchWorks catalog
- Responsibility
- Brendan Burkett.
- Edition
- 3rd ed.
- Imprint
- Champaign, IL : Human Kinetics, c2010.
- Physical description
- xii, 250 p. : ill. ; 28 cm.
- Series
- ASEP silver level series
Available online
At the library
SAL3 (off-campus storage)
Stacks
Request
Call number | Note | Status |
---|---|---|
QP303 .B86 2010 | Available |
Description
Creators/Contributors
- Author/Creator
- Burkett, Brendan, 1963-
Contents/Summary
- Bibliography
- Includes bibliographical references (p. 241) and index.
- Contents
- Chapter 1. Making a Smart Move
- Chapter 2. Starting With Basics
- Chapter 3. Getting a Move On
- Chapter 4. Rocking and Rolling
- Chapter 5. Don’t Be a Pushover
- Chapter 6. Going With the Flow
- Chapter 7. Analyzing Sport Skills
- Chapter 8. Identifying and Correcting Errors in Sport Skills
- Chapter 9. Mechanics of Selected Sport Skills.
- (source: Nielsen Book Data)
- Publisher’s summary
- Paralympic gold medallist makes sport mechanics as easy as A, B, C. Author Brendan Burkett, a Paralympic gold medalist and world-record holder, makes sport mechanics as easy as A, B, C. He pours his love of sport and his expertise as an award-winning engineer and biomechanics professor into this enhanced, revised and reformatted text. Divided into three parts, the book covers the fundamentals of sport mechanics, the mechanical principles and the application of the knowledge to sport contexts. Alongside the text highlights real-life sporting achievements and the mechanics behind them. Teaching aids include review questions and practical activities allowing students and coaches to gauge their understanding of key concepts, chapter by chapter. Since the last edition, technological advancements have expanded the athlete’s toolbox. This new edition includes nearly 150 illustrations and photos and all-new content to explain these new developments. Readers are helped to understand and incorporate technology and state-of-the-art sport equipment to enhance training, identify errors in technique and improve performance. Coaches, students and athletes with a curiosity about how things work in the world of sport, and a desire to improve performance will find this new edition refreshingly easy to read, comprehend and put into practice.
(source: Nielsen Book Data)
Subjects
- Subjects
Kinesiology.
Human mechanics.
Sports
>
Physiological aspects.
Browse related items
Start at call number:
View full page
Librarian view | Catkey: 8632246
4 books with basic knowledge for an athlete – I Love Supersport blog
4 books with basic knowledge for an athlete – I Love Supersport blog
Lectures
Magazine
Starts
Shop
More
9 0013
Moscow
Certificate
Help
October 27
Share
Every week we send you a video of the GPT and we trust that all our runners perform their exercises honestly and systematically. You do it, right? 🙂
After all, running a half marathon or overcoming your first 10 km is not an easy task. That is why we never tire of reminding you of the importance of daily various physical training, as our task is to achieve the goals as quickly as possible and without harm to the body.
Especially for this, keep a selection of useful books from our functional trainer Alexandrina Thiel.
Human Anatomy
Gives an understanding of which muscles are involved in the exercises, what works and why. How can you relax this or that muscle, what is the peculiarity of isolated exercises – you will find the answers to these questions in the book.
Download the book
Human Physiology
Brilliant textbook, in my opinion. Still do not eat after 18.00, firmly believing that this is the only way to lose weight? Then this book is definitely for you! It will dispel all myths and stereotypes about “proper nutrition” and help you decide on your own what is good and what is bad for your body.
Anatomy Trains
To learn about a newfangled and effective way to get rid of pain – taping, to understand that the source of pain is not always where it hurts, and also to find out that pain actually helps us to better understand and study ourselves, just with the help of this manual.
Download the book
Biomechanics
The book is about how our body works, what movements are correct and why it is necessary to develop and increase the functionality of our body. I will not tire of repeating that the correct exercises have beautiful geometry. Do you want to understand why? Details in this book.
Download book
Share
#motivation
#selections
#tips
Sports programs
Sports programs
running
Online
GPT and roller stretching for a runner
skiing
Online
Zoom training for skiers 9 0003
swimming
Online
Swimming Zoom
swimming
Online
Kids Zoom
See also
Athlete of the Week: Eliza Veta Drugashova
Last Sunday, Liza finished the GRUT T100 ultradistance with a finish time of 17:46:36. This is an incredible distance, incredible numbers and a very cool achievement. Many wanted to get to know Lisa better after her finish in Suzdal, and we decided to immediately ask the super finisher a couple of questions in an interview…
Athlete of the Week: Aliya Gizatulina
Aliya runs individually with trainer Elizaveta Klimova and will run GRUT T10 this weekend. In an interview, Aliya tells how her training and races go, and also shares her cherished sports dream…
Athlete of the week: Natalya Vorobyeva
Natasha is in the group of coach Yulia Ivanova on roller skis and is actively preparing for the winter season and ski starts. As Natasha says, the main training of skiers takes place in summer and autumn, and in winter you need to enjoy skiing on snow with already developed equipment and participate in races …
All entries
Sports biomechanics
Related sections
- Academic and professional literature
- Physical culture and sports
- size 10. 35 MB
- added
December 10, 2011
M.: “Physical culture and sport”, 1977. – 207 p. The book deals with the issues of biomechanics of shock movements on the model of tennis and football. The author develops a number of original theoretical constructions, which are the basis for solving practical problems of sports pedagogy. The book is addressed to physical education specialists – coaches, athletes, teachers and students of higher physical education institutions.
- pdf format
- size 5.6 MB
- added
September 17, 2015
M.: Physical culture and sport, 1957. — 267 p. This manual on biomechanics is written for third-year students of institutes of physical culture. In order to avoid repetition, the manual does not contain detailed data on physics, anatomy and physiology, since students should have learned them earlier. But a certain amount of information on these subjects is given in order to generalize them from the point of view of biomechanics. At the same time, their relationship is established, the knowledge of which is necessary …
- pdf format
- size 23.2 MB
- added
October 10, 2015
M .: Physical culture and sport, 1979. – 264 p. PDF+OCR The textbook is intended for students of institutes of physical education. It was written in accordance with the new program and reflects modern scientific data in this area. Table of contents Preface Subject and method of biomechanics Biomechanical characteristics of the human body and its movements Structure and functions of the biomechanical system of the motor apparatus Biodynamics of motor actions Biomechanics of motor qualities…
- doc format
- size 16. 03 MB
- added
May 30, 2011
Textbook for students of secondary and higher educational institutions in physical culture. 3rd edition. – m.: publishing house VLADOS-PRESS, 2008. – p.669.
- doc format
- size 6.47 MB
- added
September 28, 2009G.
The textbook is written in accordance with the new curriculum of biomechanics in higher educational institutions. Much attention is paid to the biomechanical substantiation of the use of means of physical culture and sports on the example of various sports. Modern approaches to assessing the impact of various physical and climatic factors on an athlete’s technique are reflected, and a biomechanical characteristic of various sports is given. For the first time, sections on me. ..
- pdf format
- size 3.35 MB
- added
January 31, 2016
Tutorial. – Tomsk: TML-Press, 2007. – 274 p. The textbook contains extended information on the methods of biomechanics: analysis and synthesis. The book reveals the subject, tasks, methods of biomechanics and biomechanical research methods. Particular attention is paid to the mechanisms for controlling the movements of an athlete in the supporting and unsupported positions. The questions of modeling are covered, the classification of models for the synthesis of movements of biomechanical systems is presented…
- pdf format
- size 1.56 MB
- added
October 02, 2016
Moscow: Soviet sport, 2011. – 208 p. — ISBN 978-5-9718-0528-1 The course of the academic discipline “Biomechanics”, the federal component of the curriculum of physical education universities, is designed for 100 hours (50 of them for independent work of students). A small amount of hours with a clearly insufficient knowledge of mechanics by students forces us to limit the course to the elementary foundations of sports biomechanics (the name of the discipline “Sports Biomechanics” seems to be more…
- djvu format
- size 13.39 MB
- added
July 19, 2011
Moscow, Leningrad, State Publishing House “Physical Culture and Sport”, 1939. 328 pages. Despite the year of publication, the book has not lost its relevance. This manual on the course of biomechanics of physical exercises, read at the 2nd semester of the first year of physical culture institutes, is designed for students who have passed the anatomy of the organs of movement, respiration and blood circulation, and the department of mechanics in physics. The biomechanics of exercise as a self…
- pdf format
- size 18.18 MB
- added
October 18, 2015
A.M. Laputin, V.V. Gamaly, O.A. Arkhipov, V.O. Kashuba, M.O. Nosko, T.O. Khabinets. Head helper. – K .: Olimpiyskaya literature, 2001. – 320 p. PDF+OCR At the beginning of the book, the scientific foundations of biomechanics, biomechanical analysis of the human activity of a person are examined, with which it is explained in case of various different professional tasks in everyday practice, physical culture, sports, as well as life in medicine, clinical practice, basic rehabilitation t…
- pdf format
- size 5.12 MB
- added
April 1, 2015
M.: Medical Information Agency, 2016. – 448 p. Biomechanics is the science of the laws of mechanical motion in living systems. The purpose of the book is to reveal the nature of the human body and its mechanisms in both mobility and stability, with a detailed analysis of the articular structure and muscle function. The main part of this publication is the section of biomechanics, in which the body is considered as a system of bone levers. Through the study of biomechanics it is possible…
- pdf format
- size 4.96 MB
- added
September 21, 2015
Moscow: Physical culture and sport, 1974. – 232 p. With. pdf+ocr This manual is published for the first time. It is intended for students of institutes of physical culture and can also be used by coaches in various sports and teachers of departments of sports and pedagogical disciplines. The manual outlines the basics of general (theoretical) mechanics and presents solutions to various problems from the practice of sports.