“Ooo you must be really good at sport...” The perennial question when you tell someone that you study Sport Science; the answer is always the same “No...” My greatest sporting achievement is probably two 2nd’s and a 3rd place in the 100m for school sports day, hardly a prolific talent then. So what is Sport Science?
Sport science endeavours to improve an athlete’s performance; either through improving their physical capabilities, improving their equipment, analysing their technique etc. If you watch any sport on the T.V you will no doubt witness the involvement of some sport science; however it’s often behind the scenes and goes unnoticed. When you watch footballers warming up before a game stretching into various compromising positions they’ll be following a program designed to optimise their performance during the game all grounded in sport science. Many of the various sports drinks that you see in shops will claim to have been developed through scientific testing to deliver optimum performance. Are they worth it? Maybe. The race suits worn by Bobsleigher’s have been researched and designed to provide as little air resistance as possible when they are hurtling down the ice; sometimes they’re a little too tight...
I want this blog will make of Sport Science more accessible; whilst hopefully being fun and just little bit educational. I’ll try and write some ‘consumer type’ articles e.g Are sports drinks worth the money? Maybe I’ll chuck in a few sport/athlete comparisons too; imagine an online, written version of superstars without the dreaded “Gym test” and sadly no Kevin Keegan falling of his bike!
