Researchers at University of Limerick have revealed how statistical tools can overcome barriers to sports performance, analysis and injury prevention.
A new book ‘Functional Data Analysis in Biomechanics’, combines research on the Functional Data Analysis (FDA) statistical framework with research on biomechanics from leading experts in their respective fields.
Biomechanics is the science of how a body moves, and when applied to sport it deals with data that change rapidly as an athlete moves, such as force, pressure, speed of movement and muscle activity. Using the FDA statistical framework, this type of data is less difficult to analyse and unlocks the untapped potential for biomechanics research and human movement science.
The book is the result of a 20-year research collaboration between the Mathematics Applications Consortium for Science and Industry (MACSI) and the Physical Education and Sport Sciences (PESS) Department at UL.
When researchers know why the human body moves a certain way, they can identify the factors that influence health, performance, and injury risk, specifically in sport.
Emeritus Professor Drew Harrison of UL’s Sport and Human Performance Research Centre (SHPRC) and World Athletics Elite Athletics Coach is a co-author of the book and world-leading expert in Biomechanics in Sport. Professor Harrison co-established the Sport and Human Research Centre and the Biomechanics Research Unit at the University of Limerick and is an honorary life member of the International Society of Biomechanics in Sport (ISBS).
Professor Harrison explained why there is a need for this type of research.
“Functional data are all around us, and in biomechanics, which is about human movement, we observe functional data all the time. Many of us watch sport and increasingly, we see new technology being implemented to help spectators appreciate important aspects about the performance.”
“FDA provides tools for us to analyse continuous streams of data during matches and provide even deeper insight into what makes a winner or why a player lost out,” added Professor Harrison.
Over the last 20 years, this research has generated a wide international research network, establishing UL as a leading centre of expertise in FDA applications in biomechanics with strong research collaborations across the world.
The FDA frameworks outlined in the book can help predict events from observed functions, which have the potential to explain the mechanisms of sports injuries and identify the movements that place performers at greatest risk. These principles will allow coaches to advise athletes how avoiding high risk movements, but the science of biomechanics can be applied outside the sports context.
FDA and biomechanics can also be used together to solve real-world challenges in healthcare, engineering, finance, environmental science, and much more.
Co-author Professor Norma Bargary of UL’s Mathematics Applications Consortium for Science and Industry (MACSI) explained: “While the content of the book focuses on applications of FDA in biomechanics, it has much wider applications in sports science, health, medicine, business and finance and indeed any area where data is measured as time series or curves.”
“We encourage researchers from other disciplines to use the book as a primer for applications in their own disciplines,” she added.
Lead author Dr Edward Gunning worked on the book while undergoing a PhD in Statistics at the Science Foundation Ireland Centre for Research Training in Foundations of Data Science, based in UL.
Dr Gunning is currently working as a Postdoctoral Researcher in Biostatistics at the Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, USA. He highlighted how, despite the value of FDA to biomechanics and human movement science, its use has been limited due to a lack of resources on this technique within the biomechanics research community.
“Our aim with this book is to provide a valuable resource for researchers seeking to broaden or deepen their knowledge and understanding of FDA and its applications in biomechanics,” said Dr Gunning.
Co-Author Dr John Warmenhoven, University of Technology Sydney explained: “there has never been a more important time for analytical and statistical methods, that are able to handle complex time-varying data like this.”
It’s an exciting time to be doing work in biomechanics, and I feel like FDA will be a big part of that over the next decade,” he added.
‘Functional Data Analysis in Biomechanics: A Concise Review of Core Techniques, Applications and Emerging Areas,’ has been published by Springer Nature Link.
This work was funded by Taighde Eireann - Research Ireland, through the Centre for Research Training in Foundations of Data Science, the Frontiers of the Futures programme, and Insight Centre for Data Analytics.