Video analysis can improve performance AND prevent injuries

HEALTH WATCH: DANIEL KAMENETZKY 

Training for competition requires information of certain quality that can describe the current athlete’s capacities related to the sports that he/she practices. The data is com- pared with standards of the sport that will direct the coach’s decision making in designing the proper training process. That process should lead to the athlete’s improvements and, ultimately, to the success in competition.

Sport technique is the first and most important aspect to develop in a prospect athlete and should be the priority of a coach to teach and control constantly the quality of execu- tion. Training and competing with incorrect sport technique increases the level of stress in those tissues involved in the movements. The inconvenient and unnecessary increment in load is the precursor of most of the injuries that we know as “by overuse or stress related”.

In general, coaches rely on their own perception and experience to decide if their athlete’s technique is at the re- quired level. However a video evaluation is the only objective procedure available to determine if the technique is correct or if it is in need of further development.

A quality athlete development program should include video to evaluate and analyze the sports technique of young athletes in different sports. The process should consist of filming at high speed, and from different angles, with each team participant in his/her environment performing the most common techniques of the sport where he/she is involved. All the information should then be analyzed with historical training and medical information to set new goals of training and monitor progress. 

Daniel Kamenetzky is Kinesiologist and Biomechanist with Children’s Hospital Oakland.