Performance analysis in sport: Contributions from a joint analysis of athletes ’ experience and biomechanical indicators

The purpose of this study was to test the usefulness of combining two types of analysis to investigate sports per-formance with the aim of optimizing it. These two types of analysis correspond to two levels of athletes ’ activity: (a) their experiences during performance and (b) the biome-chanical characteristics of their movements. Rowing served as an illustration, and the activity of one female crew member was studied during a race. Three types of data were collected: (a) audiovisual data recorded during the race; (b) verbalization data obtained in interviews conducted afterward; and (c) biomechanical data. The courses of experience of the two rowers during the race were reconstructed on the basis of the audiovisual and verbalization data. This paper presents a detailed analy-sis of a single phenomenon of the race experienced by on