THE VALUE OF VISUAL VARIABLES IN BIOMECHANICAL ANALYSIS

between the sports biomechanics researcher and the practitioner. It requires a special understanding of the needs of the athlete, needs of the coach, and needs of the biomechanics researcher. The sports biomechanics researcher must go to the practitioner ” ( p. v). Following from these statements, the purposes of this paper are to examine the inter-relationship among the athlete, the coach, and the biomechanics researcher and to raise some issues with regard to the message about technique that the researcher delivers to the practitioner. Some biomechanics researchers study technique as it relates to the etiology of injury while others study technique as it relates to the improvement of skill. Although the latter type of research undergirds this paper, many of the issues brought forth should have implications for the improvement of movement whether the focus is on modification of a high-risk pattern of movement or on remediation of an inefficient pattern of movement. In either case, the ultimate user of ou