The Best Things I Read In September

Welcome to my monthly update.

There are two sections: ‘What Have I Been Up To?’ and ‘What Have I Been Reading?’

Here’s what I would like to share with you this month…

ISBS Conference: The month began with the annual conference for the International Society of Biomechanics in Sports (more on the papers and presentations further down). Following the AGM, I am delighted to have taken over from Sarah Breen as Vice President (Publications) for the society. Sarah’s hard work and dedication have enabled the society to grow and embrace an increasingly online world. Since taking over, I’ve become even more aware of how much she did and continues to do, and what a fantastic contribution she has made. I have incredibly big shoes to fill, but will give it my all. I am so excited to get started!

Teaching Chat? If you would be interested in a semi-regular informal discussion around experiences and challenges of teaching sports biomechanics then please get in touch. I mentioned this on Twitter and there was definitely enough interest to make it worthwhile. It turns out that Alex Atack had similar thoughts, and she has done some great work behind the scenes already. We’re looking to set something up and will contact those who are interested.

ISBS Proceedings: If you missed the ISBS conference, you can still read all of the 4-page abstracts here. If you’re interested in sport science then there should be something in there for everybody, and the length is ideal for a quick read that still contains sufficient detail. Some of my highlights are in this thread.

Small Samples: This paper presents a really useful discussion of the options when dealing with small samples in research. This is particularly prevalent in sports research, such as when investigating elite athletes or very specific populations. There are so many useful references and guides mentioned within there too, so I’ll probably be reading a few this month.

Muscle Mechanics: It is now a year since the final lecture of the Sports Biomechanics Lecture Series. I recently re-watched the final lecture (below), by Walter Herzog on the topic of muscle mechanics. This in-depth presentation should be useful for students and experienced researchers alike. I certainly gained a lot from it, even on the second viewing. The rest of the lectures can be seen here, so please do use them however you wish and feel free to share with students, etc.

The Future of Sports Biomechanics: The 2020 ISBS Geoffrey Dyson Award Paper was recently published in Sports Biomechanics. Professor David Lloyd discusses his perspective on the future of in-field sports biomechanics. In particular, the possibility for wearable technology to be combined with modelling to compute real-time tissue loading for injury prevention and rehabilitation. For those who prefer video, you can watch the award lecture from last year.

History of ISBS: From the future of sports biomechanics, to its history. This 8 page conference abstract from 2008 details the founding and development of ISBS from the perspective of one of the founding members. There are some brilliant quotes and hidden gems in there. One of my highlights is the controversy over allowing beer companies to sponsor the 1989 conference. The abstract also gave me a greater awareness of those who played an important role in establishing the society (Juris Terauds in particular), and the challenges associated with that.

History of Tennis Rackets: On the topic of historical developments, I enjoyed reading this paper on the historical development of the tennis racket. Some of my research is on bat-ball or racket-shuttle interactions, and I’d love to investigate historical equipment from a performance perspective at some point. If you don’t fancy reading the full article, it’s still worth checking out the supplementary video showing the historical rackets.

That’s all for this month. If you found it useful, please forward this email or share this link with friends, colleagues, or on social media.

If you’ve read anything particularly interesting or useful recently, please reply to this email and let me know. I read all of the replies and I’m always looking for good reading suggestions.