Macro and Micro Biomechanics for Sports Analysis

Learn how to do a biomechanics sports analysis easily by breaking things down into macro and micro movements.

There are two types of movements that are critical to doing biomechanics analysis.

#1. Macro. Big.

#2. Micro. Small.

It's that simple.

Step #1: Look at the big picture first. Whole body movements. Easy to spot.

Step #2: Second, look at smaller, joint-level movements. More difficult to spot.

Step #3: Next, think about your time in the gym or playing sports and think in terms of big strength expression - if the movement is big like a squat that's a macro movement. If it's small like wrist extension/flexion that's definitely NOT a big strength expression. That's a micro biomechanic. It's joint level, and it's a small movement.

Step #4: Finally, micro biomechanics will go in the direction of looking at small angle changes within a joint so if an athlete is in an offensive tackle stance you would look for minor angle deviations in stance and motion.

Macro and micro biomechanics are essential to doing biomechanics qualitative analysis; however, it is not hard to learn how to identify them and apply those changes to player performance and game outcomes.

If you want to learn more about biomechanics and qualitative analysis for sports, explore the ESA Method^TM

Author Biography

Amy Ashmore, Ph.D. holds a doctorate in Kinesiology from the University of Texas at Austin. She is an educator focused on resistance training and performance analytics located in Las Vegas, NV.

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