Measuring behavior in sport and exercise

Abstract

Whether it is how equipment interacts with the human body, or how a player perceives equipment, sports equipment development is ultimately linked to the measurement of human behavior. Indeed, measuring behavior is key to sports equipment design and uptake. Measuring behavior is different from the mature discipline of sports biomechanics, since it focuses specifically on the methodological development of measurement techniques, with a close alignment to engineering and technology. As well as being methods based, measuring behavior has a broad scope, including physiological, psychological or movement measurement systems, all of which are pertinent to the field of sports engineering. Subsequently, when we hosted the 11th International Conference of Measuring Behavior, in June 2018 at Manchester Metropolitan University, sport was included as one of the main themes for the conference for the first time. This theme was the focus of the final day of the conference, which started with a keynote lecture on the classification of swimmers with physical impairments, followed by two sessions on sport. These sessions were on: (1) Measuring behavior in elite sport and (2) Monitoring and encouraging participation in sport and physical activity (see Conference Proceedings [1]). Following these sessions, the conference concluded with a visit to the National Cycling Centre in Manchester, hosted by British Cycling. These activities were funded by an Engaging Sports Engineering Grant from the ISEA (International Sports Engineering Association).