Revolutionising the way athletes train and recover, biomechanics and motion capture technology are a perfect pairing. Whilst you may be familiar with motion capture due to its use within the entertainment industry from films to TV and gaming, its pairing with biomechanics provides a more real-world, scientific use that can help push sports performance further than ever before. So, how exactly is this synergy contributing towards both safer training environments and enhanced athletic performance?
Why Biomechanics & Motion Capture Pair So Well
The integration of biomechanics and motion capture has transformed sports and physical therapy. Coaches, therapists, and researchers use these tools to analyse technique, design training programs, and implement injury prevention strategies effectively. Put simply, it enables a deeper understanding of how the body moves, allowing athletes and trainers to push the boundaries of what is possible in physical performance and recovery.
Without going into too much detail, biomechanics refers to the study of the complex movements and mechanical aspects of living things, particularly humans. As you can imagine, this can play a vital part in sports to understand what happens when we run, jump, stretch and recover from these motions. Sports biomechanics assesses these body movements, as well as muscle activity, and the functioning of joints, with the aim to help with injury prevention and rehabilitation.
Motion capture technology further complements this by providing a precise digital representation of motion. This technology uses cameras and sensors to track body movements, transforming them into 3D models that can then be analysed in detail. From a golf swing to kicking a ball or capturing someone’s running technique, movements can be analysed in real-time, and this visual feedback can help correct postures, improve performance, and further an athlete’s body movements.
How Motion Capture Benefits Sports
Motion capture enables a more nuanced understanding of sports biomechanics which then helps improve both performance and safety. It assists with the precise analysis and enhancement of techniques across various sports. For example, innovative companies like Feldspar, which provides sensor-enabled performance running tracks, allow athletes to receive real-time feedback on their running mechanics which goes a long way to help improve both acceleration and speed. This can lead to immediate adjustments in technique, potentially improving performance further.
Also, the detailed feedback provided by motion capture helps in the early identification and prevention of injuries. It can help spot how an athlete’s technique could be causing more harm than good. By analysing the data collected, coaches can adjust training to address weaknesses in technique and help to minimise the risk of strains and other sports-related injuries. For those looking to stay physically fit for as long as possible, this can be invaluable to help with prolonging a career that in the past may have been shortened due to injury.
For example, British Rowing has used biomechanical analysis to refine rowing techniques, enhancing both performance and safety for athletes to unlock speed and rowing power. It helps to assess rowers’ movements, providing data that helps in minimising the risk of back injuries while optimising stroke efficiency. This proactive approach has contributed to significant improvements in training methods and competitive results.
What Does The Future Look Like?
Constantly moving forward, the technology behind studying sports biomechanics will of course continue to improve and provide even better data. You can expect the technology to become more accessible to a wider range of sports, including amateur sports and physical education in schools and universities. Innovations like wearable sensors and AI-driven analysis will make it easier to gather and interpret biomechanical data, offering more personalised and immediate feedback.
Along with smart running tracks as mentioned above, the integration of this type of technology into other areas has the potential to work in any sport and location, making it even simpler to study movement and performance. Advanced inertial capture sensors will help to make data capture much faster and provide even more insights, pushing performance further, reducing strain, and assisting in quicker rehabilitation from injury when it happens. Wherever the technology leads us, it will certainly have a large impact on our favourite sports, potentially setting new records that have yet to be achieved.
