ABSTRACT
In this chapter we will mostly explore the use of video analysis – videography – in the study of sports movement patterns, including the equipment and methods used, experimental procedures and data processing. Videography is by far the most likely method of recording movement patterns that an undergraduate student will come across. The increasing computer control of our main data collection equipment in sports biomechanics, along with much more accessible software, has lessened our need for repetitive and tedious calculations, and made mathematical skills less important for many movement analysts. Basic mathematical skills can improve our understanding of sports performance in some cases, two of which are introduced towards the end of this chapter; the first is projectile motion, and the second examines how rotation of a body generates linear velocities and accelerations. Symbolic representations are used in this chapter (some people, mistakenly, call this mathematics), but mathematical derivations are avoided.
