Biomechanics Are Misunderstood

Something smells in my industry. People are calling BS on biomechanics — and I understand the frustration, but they've got the target wrong. This came up on the FASTER Injury Recovery to Performance Specialist course, so let me break it down.

Biomechanics isn't a technique

Kinetics is simply observing motion, and that's part of biomechanics. It's a tool, not a treatment — which means it can't be right or wrong.

The people shouting "BS" are annoyed with coaches who use techniques, and they're lumping the two together. Fair enough that they're annoyed. Those coaches use fear and vagueness to invent problems that aren't real medical issues: a bone in the "wrong" position, a joint that's "unstable", a muscle that's "tight" or "weak". From there it's a short hop to predicting, fixing and preventing injuries and pain — none of it measurable.

There's a second group calling biomechanics rubbish: people who think seeing movement isn't an important skill. They might not realise it, but they use kinetics all the time — because anything can alter a person's movement.

What observing motion is actually for

Watching movement is genuinely useful when you're honest about what it can and can't tell you. Here's how I frame it.

• Observing motion is a tool to see, in real time, how a client is experiencing an exercise, sport, game or life task.
• It's a way to understand why a movement or exercise might be a benefit or a problem for a particular person.
• It is not a reason to invent techniques based on non-measurable assessments.
• Tight, loose, weak and strong are not sound reasons to use the position of bones to predict, prevent or improve injuries, pain and conditions.
• Observing motion is about exercise design and loading — the cornerstone of every exercise programme.
• Changes in someone's movement can reveal part of the story of their mood, worries or comfort.
• That's part of the whole-body listening skill you need to genuinely work with people.

The point

Don't throw out the observation skill because some people have built nonsense on top of it. Learn to see movement properly, use it to design and load exercise, and drop the fear-based fixing. That's the honest version of biomechanics — and it's what we teach on the Field-Based Biomechanics course.