Introduction
Kinesiology is a broad sphere of human enquiry that has been see from different
perspectives by different professionals. It therefore becomes very important that you are
helped to have a meaning of it that represents what it is in Human kinetics. Human
kinetics is an applied science that studies human movement and the forces that bring
about such movements. Knowing the importance of Kinesiology to Human Kinetics will
deepen your appreciation of human movement.
Meaning of Kinesiology
Kinesiology is the multidisciplinary study of physical activity or Movement. Vincent,
Winningham, and Caldwell, (1988), define kinesiology as the study of the art and
science of human movement. Knudson, (2007), saw it as the term referring to the whole
scholarly area of human movement study. It encompasses anatomy, biomechanics,
physiology, and psychomotor behaviour, as well as various social and cultural factors.
The focus of Kinesiology is physical activity. The study of kinesiology focuses also on
exercise stress, movement efficiency, and fitness.
The term Kinesiology came from two Greek verbs, kinein and logus, which mean “to
move” and “to discourse.” Modern phrasing has changed the meaning of the suffix logus
to “the study of,” making kinesiology to literally mean “the study of movement”,
(Knudson, 2007: 3). Kinesiology encompasses both the theory and practice of
movement. The study of movement in physical activity has a long history in American
higher education institutions dating to the late nineteenth century. The field of study was
primarily oriented to the practice of movement, such as physical training and the playing
of sports. The beginning of the study of movement from a disciplinary perspective was a
fragmented effort driven by the insight of a few individuals operating as individual
scholars, practitioners of medicine, or aspiring academics in universities. All the various
approaches to the study of movement come under the single umbrella called kinesiology,
(Atare and Mong, 2005; Knudson, 2007; France, 2009).
In Human Kinetics, Kinesiology is seen as the study of human movement from the
standpoint of physical sciences. It studies the human body as a machine for doing work
which has its foundation in three major areas of scientific study. These areas of science,
though have earlier been mentioned are mechanics, (specifically biomechanics);
anatomy, (musculoskeletal anatomy) and physiology, (neuromuscular physiology),
(Hamilton and Luttgens, 2002). They apply these sciences to better understand how the
human body responds to physical activity. Can you from this see why kinesiology is
defined as a science? Yes. Kinesiology is the traditional name of a course concerning the
anatomical, physiological and mechanical bases of human movement related to sports,
games, dance and adapted movements. The foundation of kinesiology is a combination
of mechanics, anatomy and physiology, which gave it that scientific status. Bearing all
these in mind, Kinesiology can be described as the branch of science that concerns itself
with the understanding of the interrelationship between body structures and functions
with respect to the kinematics and kinetics of human movement. This is an expanded
definition of kinesiology that you are to use as a student of Human Kinetics, (Atare and
Mong, 2005).
Importance of Anatomy and Physiology to Kinesiology
The knowledge of anatomy and physiology is essential for you as an intending
professional in Kinesiology or Human Kinetics, whether you want to be a physical
educator, coach or sport scientist. You need this knowledge to function very well in
many areas of kinesiology, such as:
1. Evaluating Capacity: Knowledge of anatomy and physiology will help to evaluate
the capacity of an athlete in terms of anaerobic and aerobic capacity, for instance.
2. Determining the Effects of Exercise: Knowledge of anatomy and physiology is
important in studying the effects of exercises on human body or its parts, such as,
muscular system, skeletal system, cardiovascular system, respiratory system,
circulatory system, digestive system, among others.
3. Studying Body Structure: Your knowledge of anatomy and physiology will help
you to provide information on every aspect of athlete’s body. For example, you
can determine whether body structure of an athlete such as height, weight, body
types is either positive or negative.
4. Sports Injury Prevention: Knowledge of anatomy and physiology helps to
preventing sports injuries during physical activity or competition.
5. Uses of Food: Anatomy and physiology helps to provide adequate information
about sports nutrition. It gives the information of food nutrients and its uses. It
provides information on the benefits of balanced diet, uses of protein in strength
development in sports.
This information is very helpful in the enhancement of sports performance.
6. Selection of Sports: Anatomy and physiology helps in selection of sports for
individuals based on their structural composition. For instance, weightlifting can
be selected for athletes with short structure; tall athletes go for volleyball and
basketball, an athlete who has more fast twitch fibre (white muscle) is good for
100 m dash and 110 m hurdle race while an athlete who has more slow twitch
fibre (red muscle) is good for endurance activities like
marathon,
Kinesiology prepares you to benefit from the knowledge of anatomy and physiology
from three (3) different yet related sources. These sources according to Hoffman, (2009)
are:
1. Experiencing (or doing) physical activity. This is also called experiential
knowledge;
2. Studying the theoretical and conceptual bases of physical activity. This is the
theoretical knowledge, and
3. Professional practice centred in physical activity, (called professional
practice knowledge).
In the course of your training in Human Kinetics, you will participate in physical
activities. This will help you experience physical activity or acquire experiential
knowledge. You will also be taught theories and concepts underlying physical activities.
This aspect of the programme will help you to acquire theoretical knowledge. When you
have acquired experiential and theoretical knowledge, you are equipped to practice
physical activity as a profession in any organisation.
Importance of Kinesiology to Human Kinetics
Have you ever marveled at the ability and beauty in human movement? You may have
ignored or taken these movements for granted. Now, as a student of Human Kinetics,
you cannot help being impressed not only by the beauty of human movement but the
meaning and organisation. Are you learning Kinesiology just to keep yourself busy or
just for the sake of studying? The answer is, No! It is of very great importance to your
understanding and practice of Human Kinetics. Therefore, you study Kinesiology for
these reasons and many more:
1. Kinesiology is studied to improve performance by learning how to examine
the movement of the human body and to discover their underlying
principles.
2. The study of kinesiology is an essential part of the education experience of
students of Human kinetics and physical medicine.
3. Its knowledge enables practitioners in these fields to help their students, or
clients perform with optimum safety, effectiveness and efficiency.
Knowledge of kinesiology has a threefold purpose – safety, effectiveness
and efficiency. Safety is of greater concern in all movement programmes.
Hence, you need to organise your programmes in such a way as to avoid
doing harm or causing any injury to the body.
4. Furthermore, the knowledge of kinesiology helps in the modification of
vocational and home making activities that are as a result of the limitations
imposed on an individual’s neuromuscular function or skeletal structure.
5. It prepares physical education teachers, coaches, athletic and fitness trainers
to teach their students and clients to effectively perform fundamental and
complex motor skills.
6. The actual study of this course, kinesiology, can lead you to multiple
careers and experiences, which include becoming a physical educator. You
can not only be a teacher of the science, but may do research with it, go into
coaching, fitness leadership and delivering special services related to health
promotion, sports medicine, rehabilitation, and high-performance athletic
competitions. You can also manage sport-related enterprises. Although
some of these professions may overlap or seem as if they are all similar,
they have their differences. For instance, these professions are located in
different settings which include schools, colleges, universities, public and
private organisations, businesses, government, military, clinical
environments and hospitals.
You can see from these contributions kinesiology makes in the field of Human
Kinetics that two things stand out. They are:
1. Kinesiology contributes to successful participation in physical activities.
2. Kinesiology improves human structure and function through the intelligent
selection of activities and the efficient use of the body, (Atare and Mong,
2005).
Motion
Motion is the process or act of changing place or position with respect to some reference
objects, (Hamilton and Luttgens, 2002). The implication of motion is a change in place
or position. Like force, motion is a vector quantity which involves direction. Body
motion is produced or started by some action of muscular system. When these muscles
contract, they generate the cause of motion called force.
What is the cause of motion? It is very likely that you have seen number of things
moving around you. For instance, bicycle, motorbike, car, bus moving on a road, train
moving on rails, aeroplane flying in the sky, blades of an electric fan and a child on a
swing. Every of these actions results in change of position or place and is caused by
force. So force is the cause of motion. You can then rightly say that motion cannot
occur without force. A force can only move an object when it is sufficiently greater than
the resistance of the object. That is why you can push a building all through the day
without pushing it down or moving it. Do you know why it will take a bulldozer just
seconds of the time to push down the same building? This is because the magnitude of
the force applied by the bulldozer is greater than the magnitude of the resistance.
Therefore, the magnitude of the applied force relative to the magnitude of the resistance
is the all important factor in every motion.
Types of Motion
When a body does not change its position or place with time, you can say that the body
is at rest, while if a body changes its position or place with time, it is said to be in
motion. In what ways do objects move? Balls for example, move through the air in an
arc formation, a jumper also moves through the air in a similar fashion. Such movement
is called parabola. You may have seen humans or objects move in different ways.
Objects move in straight lines, curved path, roll, bounce, swing back and forth among
many other possible ways. Most human motions are seen in two major kinds. These are
linear and angular motions. When these two kinds of motion are combined, they form a
complex motion called general motion.
1. Linear Motion
Linear motion is a motion of a system (an object or a body) in a uniform motion with all
the components of the system moving in the same direction and speed. The system is
forced to move in a line. This type of movement is also called translatory motion. This
is because the body or object is forced to move or translate from one point to another as
a unit or a whole, (see figure 33).
Figure 33: A Ball moving from one point to another, (Translation).
The ball in figure 33 is moving in a straight line. The same ball could have also moved
in a curved path. When a body or an object moves as a whole in the same direction, it is
a pure linear motion. Depending on the nature of the path (straight or curved), linear
motion is categorised as rectilinear or curvilinear motion, (see framework in figure 34).
Figure 54: A Framework of Linear or Translatory Motion.
i. Rectilinear motion is the motion where the whole object or body moves with its
components in a straight line, in the same direction and speed. A bowling ball moving in
a straight line as shown in figure 35 is an example of rectilinear motion.
Figure 35: A Bowling Ball in a Rectilinear Motion.
Other examples are a vehicle moving in a straight road, a cyclist moving in a straight
path while maintaining a motionless posture as the bicycle moves, a train moving on a
straight rail, an athlete running a sprint race (100 m dash) and march-pass of soldiers in
a straight line parade among others, (Hall, 1995). Figure 36 illustrates some of these
examples of rectilinear motion.
Figure 36: Rectilinear Motions
ii. Curvilinear motion is the translatory motion performed when a body or object moves
as a whole or unit in a curved path or line, (see figure 37). This is the path maintained by
a ball or any other object (shot put, discus or javelin) in flight, (Hamilton and Luttgens,
2002). An athlete running in a curved pathway is also performing a curvilinear motion.
So, when you run a 200m race and go through the curve as shown in figure 38, you
perform a curvilinear motion. Further, when you perform a high jump or long jump,
(remember the standing long jump), you also perform curvilinear motion.
Figure 37: A Ball in a Curvilinear Motion.
Figure 38: Athletes Performing Curvilinear Motion
Some other examples of curvilinear motion include the trajectory of a motor cyclist in
the air, (figure 39), the trajectory of a passed ball, (figure 40)
Figure 39: An Airborne Motor Cyclist Illustrating Curvilinear Motion.
Figure 40: A Passed Ball Forming a Curvilinear Pathway
There is a special kind of curvilinear motion that is called circular motion. This motion
takes place when an object or body segment moves along the circumference of a circle
which is a curved path of constant radius (r). The object is constantly moving in a
circular path and the speed of the object should be constant. Few examples of circular
motion are- movement of the earth on its axis, a bicycle or a car moving on a circular
track, and the motion of the moon around the earth.
The hammer throw is a classic example of circular motion, (see figure 41). Hammer is
one of the throw events in athletic field events. In the hammer throw, an object is tied to
the end of a string and swings in a circle around the head. When the hammer is released
after a swing, it flies of in a straight line. The hammer, that is, the object in this example,
follows a circular pathway until when released. At release, its flight is along a curvilinear
line which ends when the object lands.
Figure 41: The Swing of a Hammer Illustrating Circular Motion.
Can you think at least two more other example that will fit this motions? Have you
observed the motion of time hands of a clock, motion of child sitting on a merry go-
round in a nearby park, or motion of the blades of an electric fan in your house of office?
In such a motion, you will notice that the object follows a circular pathway during
motion. So, you have more examples of the circular motion.
Try these activities in your environment. (1) Force a ball to roll on a horizontal table
surface, (2) Pick up a stone and release it so that it falls from your hand. In all these
activities, what did you notice in the position of the objects?
2. Angular Motion
Angular motion is rotation around a central imaginary line called axis of rotation. In his
motion, a point within the system in motion is secured, fixed or restricted so that the
system rotates around this point (axis of rotation) when the system receives a turning
force. The turning force that causes this rotation is called torque. This motion is typical
of the lever system. The axis of rotation is situated in the joint for the segments of the
body. The joint in the body is the point where segments of the body are connected.
Angular motion also called rotator motion occurs when any object acting as a radius
moves about a fixed point. This movement covers a distance and the distance travelled
may be a small arc or a complete circle, which is presented as an angle of a degree.
Most of the movements of your body are performed by body segments that are fixed or
restricted. So, most of your body’s movements are angular movements. For instance,
when you move your head to indicate “No”, move your leg to kick a ball or move your
hand and forearm to turn your doorknob, you are performing an angular motion. You are
not to confuse these motions with circular motion. Remember that circular motion
describes the motion of any point on the radius. Angular motion on the other hand is the
motion of the entire radius, (Hamilton and Luttgens, 2002). A gymnast who is circling
around a bar, which is the axis of motion in this movement, is performing an angular
motion. Other examples of angular motion are spinning, swinging, twisting and rotating.
Figure 42 illustrates some examples of angular motion. Remember, angular motions are
most observable in sports or exercise during movements of the legs and hands as
segments of the body.
Laws of Motion
Science uses experimentation to establish facts or truth. So, when experimentation,
which is a major scientific tool, shows that data are always consistent with a theory
(given certain conditions), then the theory becomes a law. Law, therefore, is a true
theory. There is a term that has made the meaning of science more concise – technology.
Look at the definition of science again, this time more carefully. You will notice that
science is not defined as a method for making practical applications of knowledge. This
is where technology comes in. Technology, according to Knudson, (2007: 29) is the term
usually used to refer to the tools and methods of applying scientific knowledge to solve
problems or perform tasks.
The scientific laws that technology provides methods of application are translated to
principles the help improve our understanding and practice of human movement. A
principle is general rule for the application of science that is useful for human
movements. Some of the principles are based on major laws of mechanics, for example,
Newton's laws of motion which are hundreds of years old.
Newton’s Laws of Motion
Who is Newton? McGinnis (2013:88) provides great insight into the background of
Newton. The author said that Isaac Newton was an English mathematician who was born
on the 25th day of December, 1642 and died on March 20, 1727, (in the Julian calendar)
or Newton was born on January 4, 1643, and died on March 31, 1727 in the Gregorian
calendar. Newton was a student at Cambridge University and subsequently became a
professor there. Many of his ideas about mechanics (and calculus) were conceived during
a two-year retreat to his family’s estate in Lincolnshire when he was in his early 20s.
This retreat was prompted by a plague epidemic in England, which caused temporary
closings of the university in Cambridge between 1665 and 1667. Despite the devastation
it caused, one benefit of the plague was that it allowed Isaac Newton an uninterrupted
period of time to establish the groundwork for his version of mechanics. About 20 years
later his works were made public and they included his three laws of motion and his law
of gravitation. These laws form the basis for modern mechanics. It is these laws that
provide the basis for the sub-branch of mechanics called kinetics. Hence they can be
applied to sports and exercise performance. The three laws of motion are
(1) Newton’s first law of motion,
(2) Newton’s second law of motion and
(3) Newton’s third law of motion.
The importance of these laws cannot be overemphasized in kinesiology, for they are the
keys to understanding how human movement occurs.
Newton’s First Law of Motion
Newton’s first law of motion is also called the law of inertia. The law states that a body
continues in its state of rest or uniform motion unless an unbalanced force acts on it. This
law means that an object or a body at rest will remain at rest and one already in motion
will also remain in motion at a constant speed in the same direction (usually a straight
line) unless a greater force acts on it, (Hamilton and Luttgens, 2002). So, the law
explains what happens to an object or a body if no external forces act on it or if the net
external force (the resultant of all the external forces acting on it) is zero, it will remain
the way it is. More simply stated, Newton’s first law says that if no net external force
acts on an object, that object will not move (it will remain in its state of rest) if it wasn’t
moving to begin with, or it will continue moving at constant speed in a straight line (it
will remain in its state of uniform motion in a straight line) if it was already moving.
There are several interpretations of Newton’s first law of motion.
Consider some of them:
1. If an object is at rest and the net external force acting on it is zero, the object
must remain at rest.
2. If an object is in motion and the net external force acting on it is zero, the object
must continue moving at constant velocity in a straight line.
3. If an object is at rest, the net external force acting on it must be zero.
4. If an object is in motion at constant velocity in a straight line, the net external
force acting on it must be zero.
Two things stand out in these interpretations. The first is that Newton’s first law of
motion applies to the resultant motion of an object and to the components of this
resultant motion. The second is that Newton’s first law is applied to any direction of
motion, because forces and velocities are vectors. Therefore, if no external forces act, or
if the components of the external forces acting in the specified direction sum to zero,
there is no motion of the object in that direction or the velocity in that direction is
constant, (Hamilton and Luttgens, 2002; McGinnis, 2013).
Newton’s Second Law of Motion
“The change of motion of an object is proportional to the force impressed; and is made
in the direction of the straight line in which the force is impressed”. This is the
Newton’s second law of motion as directly translated and expressed in McGinnis,
(2013: 98). More simply stated, Newton’s second law says that the acceleration of an
object is directly proportional to the force causing it, is in the same direction as the
force, and is inversely proportional to the mass of the object, (Hamilton and Luttgens,
2002). This law is saying that if an external force is exerted on an object, the object will
accelerate in the direction of the external force, and its acceleration will be directly
proportional to the external force and inversely proportional to its mass. In other words,
you exert a large push on a small object, it will accelerate the object rapidly. On the
other hand, if a small push is exerted on a large object, the object will accelerate slowly.
Newton's second law appears to be the most important law of motion because it shows
how the forces that create motion are linked to the motion. The second law is called the
Law of Momentum or Law of Acceleration. Momentum according to McGinnis (2013)
is the product of an object’s mass and its velocity. The faster an object moves, the more
momentum it has. The larger a moving object’s mass, the more momentum it has. So,
momentum is a way of quantifying the motion and inertia of an object together in one
measure. In sports, hockey for example, the defender usually uses a heavier stick than a
forward. Do you know why it is so? The defender needs to hit the ball farther, so, using
heavier stick allows him to transfer more momentum to the ball. In a vertical jump,
swinging the arms back and forth before takeoff, transfers momentum to the rest of the
body.
In kinesiology, movements can be qualitatively broken down with Newton's second law.
Large changes in the speed or direction (acceleration) of a person means that large
forces must have been applied. If in an athletic contest the agility of an athlete is a major
concern for optimum performance, the coach must select the lightest and quickest
player. An athlete with a small mass is easier to accelerate than an athlete with a larger
mass, provided they can create sufficient forces relative to body mass. In soccer or many
other contact team sports, if a smaller player is being overpowered by a larger opponent,
the coach can change the positions of the players such that a larger more massive player
will defend against this opponent. Note that increasing force or decreasing mass are both
important in creating acceleration and movement, (Knudson, 2007).
In many situations in sports players try to decrease or increase the rate of change of
momentum by changing the time in which the change of momentum takes place. For
instance, in cricket fielder moves his hands backward and downward while catching a
fast moving ball, (see figure 46). This backward arm movement is also observed while
soccer goal keeper catches a fast moving volley. By doing so the cricket fielder or
soccer goalkeeper increases the time duration in which the momentum of the ball
becomes zero. As the rate of change of momentum decreases, a small force is required
for holding the catch. So the hands of the fielder do not get hurt.
A cricket fielder moving his hands backward while catching a ball. Source:
Newton’s Third Law of Motion
This is Newton’s third law of motion in Latin as presented in Principia. It is commonly
referred to as the law of action-reaction. Translated directly, this law states, “To every
action there is always opposed an equal reaction: or the mutual actions of two bodies
upon each other are always equal and directed to contrary parts”, (McGinnis, 2013). This
law is most often translated as: for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.
This means that for every force exerted, there is an equal and opposite force being
exerted. Therefore, when two bodies are in contact, they exert equal forces on each other
but in an opposite direction. For example, if you push down on your desk with a force of
5kg magnitude, the desk will push back up against you with 5kg force.
In human movement, an important implication of the law of reaction is how reaction
forces change the direction of motion opposite to your applied force when you exert your
force on objects with higher force or inertia. During push-off in running an athlete exerts
downward and backward push with the foot, which creates a ground reaction force to
propel the body upward and forward. The extreme mass of the earth easily overcomes
the athlete’s inertia, and the ground reaction force accelerates his body in the opposite
direction of force he applied to the ground, (see figure 47). When you walk, you push
down on the, this is action. The ground responds by pushing you in opposite direction
which is reaction. It is the same in swimming. When the swimmer pushes against the
wall of the pool (action), the pool in return pushes back at the swimmer (reaction) as
shown in figure 48.
Figure 47: An athlete pushing down on the starting block (1) which pushes back up
against the athlete (2).
A swimmer pushes backward against the wall of the pool which pushes forward against
the swimmer.
