Biomechanically engineered athletes

The rapidly expanding application of biomechanics to athletic performance is discussed. Automatic digitizing systems that use video cameras connected to personal computers or workstations can capture simple motion in real time, allowing the performance of individual athletes to be analyzed. Several commercial systems are described. Biomechanists also use video movement analysis to gather data previously obtained only by more intrusive methods. For example, for swimming, the key variable is force exerted by the swimmer´s stroke (typically 133 N). Before the proliferation of movement analysis, force calculations were made by putting pads with pressure sensors on swimmers´ hands, which affected the hand´s motion through the water. Now the US Swimming Committee relies totally on movement analysis.<>