Biomechanical Foundations of Physical Education and Sports: Integration of Biomechanical Knowledge in Physical Education and Sports

Abstract

Physical educators teach a wide variety of human movements, and biomechanics provides a rationale critical for evaluating technique and prescribing intervention to help young people improve. Biomechanics also allows physical educators to identify exercises and physical activities that contribute to the physical development of various muscle groups and fitness components. This chapter illustrates how biomechanical knowledge and the nine principles of biomechanics can be integrated with other sport sciences in qualitative analysis of human movement. Five skills commonly taught in physical education are discussed, and the various tasks of qualitative analysis Real movement performances and typical teaching cues are used to show how biomechanics is applied to real-world physical education. Qualitative analysis is a critical evaluative and diagnostic skill that can be employed for improvement of movement in physical education. Biomechanics provides knowledge relevant to all four tasks of qualitative analysis. an elementary physical educator planning a lesson on kicking as a lead-up to soccer, so you are involved in the preparatory task of qualitative analysis. In preparing to teach and qualitatively analyze kicking, you list the critical features and teaching points of the movement. Students practice this skill, you are planning to evaluate these critical features and diagnose student performance using biomechanical principles. Which biomechanical principles seem most relevant to the critical features of high-speed place-kicking.