ABSTRACT
This chapter introduces the fundamental mechanical concepts underlying angular kinematic analysis, in particular, angular displacement, angular velocity and angular acceleration. It helps the reader do the following: differentiate angular distance, angular displacement, angular speed, angular velocity and angular acceleration; differentiate degrees and radians; describe the relationship between linear velocity and angular velocity; and describe the relationship between linear acceleration and angular acceleration. A kinematic analysis of the movement of the body as a whole in a particular activity would involve a description of the linear displacement, linear velocity and linear acceleration of the whole-body centre of gravity during the movement. The x-y coordinate data can be used in a variety of ways, in particular, representation of the movement of the body in the form of a stick figure and the calculation of linear kinematics such as the movement of whole-body centre of gravity, and angular kinematics such as angular movement of particular body segments.
