Mr.

Jahid Hasan

Biomechanics Specialist from Australia

 Sports techniques in enhancing performance in different sports

 optimal technique for enhancing sports performance
 the safest method for performing a particular sport or exercise task

1. How biomechanics can actually enhance performance in sports?

Well, As a biomechanists I would like to attract all of you to the role of biomechanics in
sports. But what I think, many of the audience here do not have sufficient idea about
biomechanics. So before I proceed it’s better to give you all a brief definition first what
is biomechanics and how it can actually enhance sports performance even though the
sport is practiced for half an hour.

In short, Sport and Exercise Biomechanics is a title that encompasses the area of science
concerned with the analysis of mechanics of human movement.

Now what does biomechanics do? It identifies the optimal technique for enhancing
sports performance, analyze the body loading to determine the safest method for
performing

There are several analyses in the field of biomechanics through which an athlete may
bring betterment to his/her performance. It depends how accurately he/she analyzes
and tries to understand the relation among own muscles, strength and speed.

It doesn’t matter how many hours you practice sports, but it matters even though half
an hour of those moments you try to build up with maximum performance. To get
benefit from sports that you are playing you need to combine three things. First is
Force, second Speed, third Timing. Also you have to keep balance while practicing.
2. How do you explain applications of biomechanics in different sports especially in Cricket?

Well, let’s talk about 200m or 400m running track. You might have noticed there are
several tracks and the inside lane or lane one is the dread of all runners. This is because
the tighter the curve is, the more a runner has to lean and the more energy is spent
adjusting the body. One study by American physicists calculated that an athlete who
runs 19.72 seconds in lane one, is equivalent of a time of 19.60 seconds in lane eight.
This difference could be quite significant and may mean the difference between
winning.

How about Football? Let’s focus on the science of ball that spins and curves in the air
with force. Beckham famously uses spin imparted on the ball to curve a free-kick
around a defensive wall and goalkeeper to score his goals. Calculations show that at 25
m from the goal and a velocity of 25 m/s, Beckham can swing the soccer ball 4.57 m
from the straight path by using spin.

Well, the applications of biomechanics in Cricket are really tremendous in different field
of styles. But I will be commenting only on bowling action of a bowler. A bowler may
spin the ball or throw the ball with much force towards batsman. It has been recorded
as the fast bowling so far is 162 km/h by Soaib Akhter. To bowl with this speed you
don’t have to push your hand with the same speed. As his fingers give the ball a final
push, it results in the very high ball speed at release.

So here the main thing is not practicing sports for long time without gaining maximum
performance, it is the style and the way that an athlete can make his/her own style of
practice to get better performance with timing and effective application of
biomechanics. If you practice at least half an hour whatever sports you are playing just
have to be a little bit more conscious about the aim that you are up to.