Three Principles of Force in Sports Analysis

To be able to perform qualitative analysis of an athlete you have to focus. I focus on three principles of force to guide what I see and how I apply it.

In this short post, I'll share with you what those principles of force are and how they can get you started in qualitative analytics for sports.

Biomechanics analysis requires a system. To quantify something that is inherently qualitative you have to have a method.

The way I quantify human biomechanics is by quantifying everything I see based on 1. the law of action-reaction which is covered in another post, and 2. the three principles of force application that we'll go over here.

What are the three principles of force and what they mean to you?

In brief, they are:

1. What.

2. Where.

3. How much.

In a little more depth,

1.What

• Structure - joint(s).

2.Where

• Direction that joint(s) move.

3.How much

• Magnitude of force joint motion causes.

This is where you start your qualitative analysis by identifying which joints, where they are moving, and with how much force. Once you do that, you have a start point and any deviation gives you insight into player performance that could impact game outcomes.

To learn more, click here.

Author Biography

Amy Ashmore, Ph.D. holds a doctorate in Kinesiology from the University of Texas at Austin. She is located in Las Vegas, NV.