Tag: Kenneth Clark

GAINcast Episode 89: How Speed Happens (with Peter Weyand)

Post author By Margaret Allen
Post date November 8, 2017

“People recognize the power of science, in terms of testing and numbers. But unless you’re involved in it it’s hard to appreciate the creativity that is also part of the process.” — Peter Weyand

The founder of modern sports performance training, Vern Gambetta, interviewed SMU locomotion researcher Peter Weyand about human speed and performance for his GAINcast show.

The GAINcast name is an acronym for the internationally recognized Gambetta’s self-made sports performance education, outreach and training efforts, Gambetta Athletic Improvement Network.

Gambetta’s 60-minute interview with Weyand posted Nov. 2, 2017, “Gaincast Episode 89: How Speed Happens (with Peter Weyand).”

In it, Weyand touches on the experiences early in his career as a high school and college athlete playing basketball and running track that sparked his pursuit of a research and academic career in sports science and human performance.

As a high school coach, Weyand’s early interest intensified, leading him to pursue advanced degrees and a scientific career exploring the mechanics of human locomotion and speed, including at the University of Georgia and then at Harvard’s Concord Field Station.

During that time, Weyand worked with early pioneers in the biomechanics and human performance field, including renowned researcher Dick Taylor. At the field station in particular, Weyand credits Taylor with mentoring young researchers in aggressively and fearlessly digging into basic science questions surrounding mammalian locomotion.

“It was wide open, anything goes. It wasn’t these reductionist questions …. It was anything under the sun you could cook up. And there was an insistence on good scientific questions, and a real integrative perspective on all of it. Those were my formative scientific experiences. People recognize the power of science, in terms of testing and numbers. But unless you’re involved in it it’s hard to appreciate the creativity that is also part of the process. There’s an art of doing science and Dick was a master of that. And everybody that came through that field station under his training, which is really a who’s who in our field in many respects, learned that art from him.”

Weyand is an expert on human locomotion and the mechanics of running. Research from his SMU Locomotor Performance Laboratory in SMU’s Annette Caldwell Simmons School of Education and Human Development has produced ground-breaking scientific findings about the science of human speed.

The lab focuses on the mechanical basis of human performance and includes physicist and engineer Laurence Ryan, an expert in force and motion analysis.

The Weyand lab’s most recent research found that the world’s fastest sprinter, Usain Bolt, has an asymmetrical running gait, contrary to the common notions about coaching and training for speed. Bolt’s asymmetry was discovered using the lab’s two-mass model tool, which the researchers have described in the Journal of Experimental Biology, “A general relationship links gait mechanics and running ground reaction forces.” The model can assess the crucial early portion of foot-ground contact — the impact-phase force and time relationships — from motion data only.

Weyand is Glenn Simmons Professor of Applied Physiology and professor of biomechanics in the Department of Applied Physiology & Wellness.

Listen to the podcast.

EXCERPT:

By Martin Bingisser
GAINcast

There are some basic questions out there that are difficult to answer, such as what limits human running speed. As technology advances, scientists can better study and start to answer this and other simple questions like what makes one athlete faster than another.

Dr. Peter Weyand has spent decades researching locomotion on both animals and humans. His work with elite sprinters has brought some interesting conclusions and is driving the field forward. On this episode of the GAINcast he joins us to discuss his research and its practical implications.

Listen to the podcast.

Tags Andrew Udofa, Annette Caldwell Simmons School of Education & Human Development, Kenneth Clark, Laurence Ryan, Peter Weyand

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The New York Times: Something Strange in Usain Bolt’s Stride

Post author By Margaret Allen
Post date July 20, 2017
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Bolt is the fastest sprinter ever in spite of — or because of? — an uneven stride that upends conventional wisdom.

The New York Times reporter Jeré Longman covered the research of SMU biomechanics expert Peter Weyand and his colleagues Andrew Udofa and Laurence Ryan for a story about Usain Bolt’s apparent asymmetrical running stride.

The article, “Something Strange in Usain Bolt’s Stride,” published July 20, 2017.

The researchers in the SMU Locomotor Performance Laboratory reported in June that world champion sprinter Usain Bolt may have an asymmetrical running gait. While not noticeable to the naked eye, Bolt’s potential asymmetry emerged after the researchers dissected race video to assess his pattern of ground-force application — literally how hard and fast each foot hits the ground. To do so they measured the “impulse” for each foot.

Biomechanics researcher Udofa presented the findings at the 35th International Conference on Biomechanics in Sport in Cologne, Germany. His presentation, “Ground Reaction Forces During Competitive Track Events: A Motion Based Assessment Method,” was delivered June 18.

The analysis thus far suggests that Bolt’s mechanics may vary between his left leg to his right. The existence of an unexpected and potentially significant asymmetry in the fastest human runner ever would help scientists better understand the basis of maximal running speeds. Running experts generally assume asymmetry impairs performance and slows runners down.

Udofa has said the observations raise the immediate scientific question of whether a lack of symmetry represents a personal mechanical optimization that makes Bolt the fastest sprinter ever or exists for reasons yet to be identified.

Weyand, who is Glenn Simmons Professor of Applied Physiology and professor of biomechanics in the Department of Applied Physiology & Wellness in SMU’s Annette Caldwell Simmons School of Education & Human Development, is director of the Locomotor Lab.

An expert on human locomotion and the mechanics of running, Weyand has been widely interviewed about the running controversy surrounding double-amputee South African sprinter Oscar Pistorius. Weyand co-led a team of scientists who are experts in biomechanics and physiology in conducting experiments on Pistorius and the mechanics of his racing ability.

For his most recently published research, Weyand was part of a team that developed a concise approach to understanding the mechanics of human running. The research has immediate application for running performance, injury prevention, rehab and the individualized design of running shoes, orthotics and prostheses. The work integrates classic physics and human anatomy to link the motion of individual runners to their patterns of force application on the ground — during jogging, sprinting and at all speeds in between.

They described the two-mass model earlier this year in the Journal of Experimental Biology in their article, “A general relationship links gait mechanics and running ground reaction forces.” It’s available at bitly, http://bit.ly/2jKUCSq.

The New York Times subscribers or readers with remaining limited free access can read the full story.

EXCERPT:

By Jeré Longman
The New York Times
DALLAS — Usain Bolt of Jamaica appeared on a video screen in a white singlet and black tights, sprinting in slow motion through the final half of a 100-meter race. Each stride covered nine feet, his upper body moving up and down almost imperceptibly, his feet striking the track and rising so rapidly that his heels did not touch the ground.

Bolt is the fastest sprinter in history, the world-record holder at 100 and 200 meters and the only person to win both events at three Olympics. Yet as he approaches his 31st birthday and retirement this summer, scientists are still trying to fully understand how Bolt achieved his unprecedented speed.

Last month, researchers here at Southern Methodist University, among the leading experts on the biomechanics of sprinting, said they found something unexpected during video examination of Bolt’s stride: His right leg appears to strike the track with about 13 percent more peak force than his left leg. And with each stride, his left leg remains on the ground about 14 percent longer than his right leg.

This runs counter to conventional wisdom, based on limited science, that an uneven stride tends to slow a runner down.

So the research team at S.M.U.’s Locomotor Performance Laboratory is considering a number of questions as Bolt prepares for what he said would be his final performances at a major international competition — the 100 meters and 4×100-meter relay next month at the world track and field championships in London.

Among those questions: Does evenness of stride matter for speed? Did Bolt optimize this irregularity to become the fastest human? Or, with a more balanced stride during his prime, could he have run even faster than 9.58 seconds at 100 meters and 19.19 seconds at 200 meters?

“That’s the million-dollar question,” said Peter Weyand, director of the S.M.U. lab.

The S.M.U. study of Bolt, led by Andrew Udofa, a doctoral researcher, is not yet complete. And the effect of asymmetrical strides on speed is still not well understood. But rather than being detrimental for Bolt, the consequences of an uneven stride may actually be beneficial, Weyand said.

It could be that Bolt has naturally settled into his stride to accommodate the effects of scoliosis. The condition curved his spine to the right and made his right leg half an inch shorter than his left, according to his autobiography.

Initial findings from the study were presented last month at an international conference on biomechanics in Cologne, Germany. Most elite sprinters have relatively even strides, but not all. The extent of Bolt’s variability appears to be unusual, Weyand said.

“Our working idea is that he’s probably optimized his speed, and that asymmetry reflects that,” Weyand said. “In other words, correcting his asymmetry would not speed him up and might even slow him down. If he were to run symmetrically, it could be an unnatural gait for him.”

Antti Mero, an exercise physiologist at the University of Jyvaskyla in Finland, who has researched Bolt’s fastest races, said he was intrigued by the S.M.U. findings.

The New York Times subscribers or readers with remaining limited free access can read the full story.

Tags Andrew Udofa, Annette Caldwell Simmons School of Education & Human Development, Kenneth Clark, Laurence Ryan, Peter Weyand

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Does symmetry matter for speed? Study finds Usain Bolt may have asymmetrical running gait

Post author By Margaret Allen
Post date June 27, 2017

A new method for assessing patterns of ground-force application suggests the right and left legs of the world’s fastest man may perform differently, defying current scientific assumptions about running speed.

World champion sprinter Usain Bolt may have an asymmetrical running gait, according to data recently presented by researchers from Southern Methodist University, Dallas.

While not noticeable to the naked eye, Bolt’s potential asymmetry emerged after SMU researchers assessed the running mechanics of the world’s fastest man.

The analysis thus far suggests that Bolt’s mechanics may vary between his left leg and his right, said Andrew Udofa, a biomechanics researcher in the SMU Locomotor Performance Laboratory.

The existence of an unexpected and potentially significant asymmetry in the fastest human runner ever would help scientists better understand the basis of maximal running speeds. Running experts generally assume asymmetry impairs performance and slows runners down.

“Our observations raise the immediate scientific question of whether a lack of symmetry represents a personal mechanical optimization that makes Bolt the fastest sprinter ever or exists for reasons yet to be identified,” said Udofa, a member of the research team.

The SMU Locomotor Lab, led by Peter Weyand, focuses on the mechanical basis of human performance. The group includes physicist and engineer Laurence Ryan, an expert in force and motion analysis, and doctoral researcher Udofa.

The intriguing possibility of Bolt’s asymmetry emerged after the SMU researchers decided to assess his pattern of ground-force application — literally how hard and fast each foot hits the ground. To do so they measured the “impulse” for each foot.

Impulse is a combination of the amount of force applied to the ground multiplied by the time of foot-ground contact.

“The manner in which Bolt achieves his impulses seems to vary from leg to leg,” Udofa said. “Both the timing and magnitude of force application differed between legs in the steps we have analyzed so far.”

Impulse matters because that’s what determines a runner’s time in the air between steps.

“If a runner has a smaller impulse, they don’t get as much aerial time,” Weyand said. “Our previous published research has shown greater ground forces delivered in shorter periods of foot-ground contact are necessary to achieve faster speeds. This is true in part because aerial times do not differ between fast and slow runners at their top speeds. Consequently, the combination of greater ground forces and shorter contact times is characteristic of the world’s fastest sprinters.”

The researchers didn’t test Bolt in the SMU lab. Instead, they used a new motion-based method to assess the patterns of ground-force application. They analyzed Bolt and other elite runners using existing high-speed race footage available from NBC Universal Sports. The runners were competing in the 2011 Diamond League race at the World Athletics Championships in Monaco.

Udofa analyzed 20 of Bolt’s steps from the Monaco race, averaging data from 10 left and 10 right.

The researchers relied upon foot-ground contact time, aerial time, running velocity and body mass to determine the ground reaction forces using the new method, made possible by the “two-mass model” of running mechanics.

Runners typically run on a force-instrumented treadmill or force plates for research examining running ground-reaction forces. However, the two-mass model method provides a tool that enables motion-based assessments of ground reaction forces without direct force measurements.

“There are new avenues of research the model may make possible because direct-force measurements are not required,” Weyand said. “These include investigations of the importance of symmetry for sprinting performance. The two-mass model may facilitate the acquisition of data from outside the lab to help us better address these kinds of questions.”

Udofa presented the findings at the 35th International Conference on Biomechanics in Sport in Cologne, Germany. His presentation, “Ground Reaction Forces During Competitive Track Events: A Motion Based Assessment Method,” was delivered June 18.

Two-mass model relies on basic motion data
SMU researchers developed the concise two-mass model as a simplified way to predict the entire pattern of force on the ground — from impact to toe-off — with very basic motion data.

The model integrates classic physics and human anatomy to link the motion of individual runners to their patterns of force on the ground.

It provides accurate predictions of the ground force vs. time patterns throughout each instant of the contact period, regardless of limb mechanics, foot-strike type or running speed.

The two-mass model is substantially less complex than other scientific models that explain patterns of ground force application during running. Most existing models are more elaborate in relying on 14 or more variables, many of which are less clearly linked to the human body.

“The two-mass model provides us with a new tool for assessing the crucial early portion of foot-ground contact that is so important for sprinting performance,” said Udofa. “The model advances our ability to assess the impact-phase force and time relationships from motion data only.”

The two-mass model was developed in SMU’s Locomotor Performance Laboratory by Kenneth P. Clark, now an assistant professor in the Department of Kinesiology at West Chester University, West Chester, Pa.; Ryan, a physicist and research engineer at SMU’s Locomotor Performance Laboratory; and Weyand.

The researchers described the two-mass model earlier this year in the Journal of Experimental Biology in their article, “A general relationship links gait mechanics and running ground reaction forces.” It’s available at bitly, http://bit.ly/2jKUCSq.

Support for the research came from the U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command.

Weyand is Glenn Simmons Professor of Applied Physiology and professor of biomechanics in the Department of Applied Physiology & Wellness in SMU’s Annette Caldwell Simmons School of Education & Human Development. — Margaret Allen, SMU

Tags Andrew Udofa, Annette Caldwell Simmons School of Education & Human Development, Kenneth Clark, Laurence Ryan, Peter Weyand

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GotScience.org: Can You Improve Your Running with Physics?

Post author By Margaret Allen
Post date March 28, 2017

The researchers studied the running mechanics of forty-two people ranging from recreational runners to Olympic medalists.

GotScience.org reporter Emily Rhode covered the research of SMU biomechanics expert Peter Weyand and the SMU Locomotor Laboratory. Weyand is the director of the Locomotor Lab.

Other authors on the study were Laurence Ryan, a physicist and research engineer in the lab, and
Kenneth Clark , previously with the lab and now an assistant professor in the Department of Kinesiology at West Chester University in West Chester, Penn.

The three have developed a concise approach to understanding the mechanics of human running. The research has immediate application for running performance, injury prevention, rehab and the individualized design of running shoes, orthotics and prostheses. The work integrates classic physics and human anatomy to link the motion of individual runners to their patterns of force application on the ground — during jogging, sprinting and at all speeds in between.

The GotScience.org article, “Can You Improve Your Running with Physics?,” published March 27, 2017.

Weyand is Glenn Simmons Professor of Applied Physiology and professor of biomechanics in the Department of Applied Physiology and Wellness in SMU’s Annette Caldwell Simmons School of Education and Human Development.

An expert on human locomotion and the mechanics of running, Weyand has been widely interviewed about the controversy surrounding double-amputee South African sprinter Oscar Pistorius. Controversy has swirled around the sprinter over whether his light-weight, carbon-fiber prosthetic “Cheetah” legs give him a competitive advantage.

Weyand helped lead a team of scientists who are experts in biomechanics and physiology in conducting experiments on Pistorius and the mechanics of his racing ability.

Read the full story.

EXCERPT:

By Emily Rhode
Gotscience.org
Running is one of the simplest forms of exercise we can do. It requires no protective gear or fancy equipment. At its core, it just requires force. Runners are constantly searching for clues for how to improve their speed and prevent injury. But until now, there was no easy way to fully assess the way a runner moves. In a new study published in the Journal of Experimental Biology, researchers at Southern Methodist University describe a new method that requires nothing more than a quality camera and basic laws of physics to predict how a runner and the ground will impact each other.

Newton’s second law of motion says that force is mass multiplied by acceleration. A runner’s mechanics, or movement, can be represented by a simple waveform—a visual representation of force over time. The moment the runner’s foot hits the ground is represented by the beginning of the wave. As the mass of the runner’s body accelerates toward the ground, the amount of force increases and the wave climbs. The wave then slopes down as the runner begins the motion of lifting the leg again.

Collecting the data to create this pattern of force between the runner’s body and the ground is normally a complicated process that requires knowing the masses and motion of as many as fourteen different variables. A team consisting of Dr. Kenneth P. Clark, Dr. Laurence J. Ryan, and Dr. Peter G. Weyand believed that they could simplify the process considerably by focusing on just two parts of the body: the lower leg and the foot.

The researchers studied the running mechanics of forty-two people ranging from recreational runners to Olympic medalists. They measured each person’s body mass and used high-speed cameras to capture the motion of running. At the same time, a specialized treadmill recorded the force of the runners’ footfalls as they moved through their strides. The team then compared the real data to an algorithm, or set of mathematical steps, that they developed to predict an individual’s waveform pattern.

Read the full story.

Tags Annette Caldwell Simmons School of Education & Human Development, Kenneth Clark, Laurence Ryan, Peter Weyand

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Huffington Post: A New Physics Discovery Could Make You A Faster Runner

Post author By Margaret Allen
Post date February 14, 2017
No Comments on Huffington Post: A New Physics Discovery Could Make You A Faster Runner

It’s all about the force

Reporter Sarah DiGiullo with the online news magazine The Huffington Post covered the research of Peter Weyand and the SMU Locomotor Laboratory. Weyand, who is Glenn Simmons Professor of Applied Physiology and professor of biomechanics in the Department of Applied Physiology and Wellness in SMU’s Annette Caldwell Simmons School of Education and Human Development, is the director of the Locomotor Lab.

The Huffington Post article, “Researchers reveal the mechanics of running is simpler than thought – and it could revolutionize shoe design,” published Feb. 13, 2017.

Read the full story.

EXCERPT:

By Sarah DiGiullo
The Huffington Post
When it comes to race day, runners may have favorite moisture-wicking gear, a stopwatch and tunes to help get that coveted personal record.

But physicists say running at your top speed may actually be a lot simpler. It all comes down to the force of your foot striking the ground ― and that’s about it.

After studying the physics behind some of the world’s fastest runners, researchers came up with a new model they say could make anyone faster. It may help injured runners recover faster, too.

The researchers developed an equation that calculates two forces: The total force of the shin, ankle and foot striking the ground, and the total force of the rest of the body striking the ground. The method, which they detailed in an article published recently in the Journal of Experimental Biology, can predict how fast an athlete will run.

“We’ve known for quite some time that fast people are fast because they’re able to hit the ground harder in relation to how much they weigh,” explained the study’s co-author, Peter Weyand, director of the Locomotor Performance Laboratory at Southern Methodist University in Dallas.

But Weyand and his team were looking to better understand why it was that some people are able to hit the ground harder than others. The new equation makes the answer a lot clearer, with fewer measurements than previous models.

Read the full story.

Tags Annette Caldwell Simmons School of Education & Human Development, Kenneth Clark, Laurence Ryan, Peter Weyand

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Dallas Innovates: SMU Study Finds Simpler Way to Explain Physics of Running

Post author By Margaret Allen
Post date February 3, 2017

The research could have implications on shoe design, rehabilitation practices, and running performance.

Reporter Heather Noel with Dallas Innovates covered the research of Peter Weyand and the SMU Locomotor Laboratory. Weyand, who is Glenn Simmons Professor of Applied Physiology and professor of biomechanics in the Department of Applied Physiology and Wellness in SMU’s Annette Caldwell Simmons School of Education and Human Development, is the director of the Locomotor Lab.

The Dallas Innovates article, “SMU Study Finds Simpler Way to Explain Physics of Running,” published Feb. 2, 2017.

Read the full story.

EXCERPT:

By Heather Noel
Dallas Innovates
Understanding the physics of running all comes down to the motion of two body parts, according to researchers at Southern Methodist University.

Their findings published recently in the Journal of Experimental Biology, concluded that running can be explained in a lot simpler terms than scientists previously thought. After examining Olympic-caliber runners, they came up with a “two-mass model” that uses the lower leg that comes into contact with the ground and the sum total of the rest of the body to determine ground force.

“The foot and the lower leg stop abruptly upon impact, and the rest of the body above the knee moves in a characteristic way,” said Kenneth Clark, SMU grad and assistant professor in the Department of Kinesiology at West Chester University, in a release.

“This new simplified approach makes it possible to predict the entire pattern of force on the ground — from impact to toe-off — with very basic motion data.”

The research could have implications on shoe design, injury prevention, rehabilitation practices, and running performance.

“The approach opens up inexpensive ways to predict the ground reaction forces and tissue loading rates. Runners and other athletes can know the answer to the critical functional question of how they are contacting and applying force to the ground,” said Laurence Ryan, a physicist and research engineer at SMU’s Locomotor Performance Laboratory, in a release.

Read the full story.

Tags Annette Caldwell Simmons School of Education & Human Development, Kenneth Clark, Laurence Ryan, Peter Weyand

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Daily Mail: Researchers reveal the mechanics of running is simpler than thought – and it could revolutionise shoe design

Post author By Margaret Allen
Post date February 3, 2017

New study: Pattern of force on the ground is due to the motion of two parts of the body

Reporter Stacy Liberatore with London’s Daily Mail newspaper covered the research of Peter Weyand and the SMU Locomotor Laboratory. Weyand, who is Glenn Simmons Professor of Applied Physiology and professor of biomechanics in the Department of Applied Physiology and Wellness in SMU’s Annette Caldwell Simmons School of Education and Human Development, is the director of the Locomotor Lab.

The Daily Mail article, “Researchers reveal the mechanics of running is simpler than thought – and it could revolutionise shoe design,” published Jan. 31, 2017.

Read the full story.

EXCERPT:

By Stacy Liberatore
Daily Mail
A study has found a new explanation for the basic mechanics of human running.

While observing Olympic-caliber sprinters, researchers discovered that a runner’s pattern of force application on the ground is due to the motion of just two parts of the body: the contacting leg and the rest of the body.

The new approach could help create new patterns to optimize the design of running shoes, orthoses and prosthetics, as experts are able to see exactly how a person runs.

The Southern Methodist University (SMU) researchers explained that the basic concept of their ‘two-mass model’ is relatively simple — a runner’s pattern of force application on the ground is due to the motion of two parts of the body: the lower portion of the leg that is contacting the ground, and the sum total of the rest of the body.

The force contributions of the two body parts are each predicted from their largely independent motions when they have foot-ground contact.

And then combined to predict the overall pattern.

The final prediction relies only upon classical physics and a characteristic link between the force and motion for the two body parts.

‘Our model inputs are limited to contact time on the ground, time in the air, and the motion of the ankle or lower limb.

‘From three basic stride variables we are able to predict the full pattern of ground-force application,’ said Laurence Ryan, who is a physicist and research engineer at SMU’s Locomotor Performance Laboratory.

‘The approach opens up inexpensive ways to predict the ground reaction forces and tissue loading rates.’

Read the full story.

Tags Annette Caldwell Simmons School of Education & Human Development, Kenneth Clark, Laurence Ryan, Locomotor, Peter Weyand

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New study connects running motion to ground force, provides patterns for any runner

Post author By Margaret Allen
Post date January 30, 2017

New approach simplifies the physics of running, enabling scientists to predict ground force patterns; applies to rehab, shoe design and athletic performance.

Researchers at Southern Methodist University, Dallas, have developed a concise approach to understanding the mechanics of human running. The research has immediate application for running performance, injury prevention, rehab and the individualized design of running shoes, orthotics and prostheses. The work integrates classic physics and human anatomy to link the motion of individual runners to their patterns of force application on the ground – during jogging, sprinting and at all speeds in between.

Researchers at Southern Methodist University in Dallas have developed a concise new explanation for the basic mechanics involved in human running.

The approach offers direct insight into the determinants of running performance and injuries, and could enable the use of individualized gait patterns to optimize the design of shoes, orthoses and prostheses according to biomechanics experts Kenneth Clark , Laurence Ryan and Peter Weyand, who authored the new study.

The ground force-time patterns determine the body’s motion coming out of each step and therefore directly determine running performance. The impact portion of the pattern is also believed to be a critical factor for running injuries.

“The human body is mechanically complex, but our new study indicates that the pattern of force on the ground can be accurately understood from the motion of just two body parts,” said Clark, first author on the study and currently an assistant professor in the Department of Kinesiology at West Chester University in West Chester, Pennsylvania.

“The foot and the lower leg stop abruptly upon impact, and the rest of the body above the knee moves in a characteristic way,” Clark said. “This new simplified approach makes it possible to predict the entire pattern of force on the ground — from impact to toe-off — with very basic motion data.”

This new “two-mass model” from the SMU investigators substantially reduces the complexity of existing scientific explanations of the physics of running.

Existing explanations have generally relied upon relatively elaborate “multi-mass spring models” to explain the physics of running, but this approach is known to have significant limitations. These complex models were developed to evaluate rear-foot impacts at jogging speeds and only predict the early portion of the force pattern. In addition, they are less clearly linked to the human body itself. They typically divide the body into four or more masses and include numerous other variables that are hard to link to the actual parts of a human body.

The SMU model offers new insight by providing concise, accurate predictions of the ground force vs. time patterns throughout each instant of the contact period. It does so regardless of limb mechanics, foot-strike type and running speed.

“Our model inputs are limited to contact time on the ground, time in the air, and the motion of the ankle or lower limb. From three basic stride variables we are able to predict the full pattern of ground-force application,” said Ryan, who is a physicist and research engineer at SMU’s Locomotor Performance Laboratory.

“The approach opens up inexpensive ways to predict the ground reaction forces and tissue loading rates. Runners and other athletes can know the answer to the critical functional question of how they are contacting and applying force to the ground.” added Ryan.

Current methods for assessing patterns of ground force application require expensive in-ground force platforms or force treadmills. Additionally, the links between the motions of an athlete’s body parts and ground forces have previously been difficult to reduce to basic and accurate explanations.

The researchers describe their new two-mass model of the physics of running in the article, “A general relationship links gait mechanics and running ground reaction forces,” published in the Journal of Experimental Biology.

“From both a running performance and injury risk standpoint, many investigations over the last 15 years have focused on the link between limb motion and force application,” said Weyand, who is the director of SMU’s Locomotor Performance Laboratory. “We’re excited that this research can shed light on this basic relationship.”

Overall force-time pattern is the sum of two parts
Traditional scientific explanations of foot-ground forces have utilized different types of spring and mass models ranging from complex to very simple. However, the existing models have not been able to fully account for all of the variation present in the force-time patterns of different runners — particularly at speeds faster than jogging. Consequently, a comprehensive basis for assessing performance differences, injury risks and general running mechanics has not been previously available.

The SMU researchers explain that the basic concept of the new approach is relatively simple — a runner’s pattern of force application on the ground is due to the motion of two parts of the body: the lower portion of the leg that is contacting the ground, and the sum total of the rest of the body.

The force contributions of the two body parts are each predicted from their largely independent, respective motions during the foot-ground contact period. The two force contributions are then combined to predict the overall pattern. The final prediction relies only upon classical physics and a characteristic link between the force and motion for the two body parts.

New approach can be applied accurately and inexpensively
The application of the two-mass approach is direct and immediate.

“Scientists, clinicians and performance specialists can directly apply the new information using the predictive approach provided in the manuscript,” Clark said. “The new science is well-suited to assessing patterns of ground-force application by athletes on running tracks and in performance training centers.”

These capabilities have not been possible previously, much less in the inexpensive and accurate manner that the new approach allows for with existing technology.

“The only requirement is a quality high-speed camera or decent motion sensor and our force-motion algorithms,” Clark said. “It’s conceivable that even shoe stores would benefit by implementing basic treadmill assessments to guide footwear selection from customer’s gait mechanics using the approach.”

A critical breakthrough for the SMU researchers was recognition that the mass contribution of the lower leg did not vary for heel vs. forefoot strikes and was directly quantifiable. Their efforts lead them to recognize the initial force contribution results from the quick stopping of the lower part of the leg — the shin, ankle and foot — which all come down and stop together when the foot hits the ground.

Olympic sprinters were a clue to discovery
The SMU team discovered a general way to quantify the impact forces from the large impacts observed from Olympic-caliber sprinters. Like heel strikers, the patterns of Olympic sprinters exhibit a sharp rising edge peak that results from an abrupt deceleration of the foot and lower leg. However, sprinters accomplish this with forefoot impacts rather than the heel-first landing that most joggers use.

“The world-class sprinters gave us a big signal to figure out the critical determinants of the shape of the waveform,” said Weyand. “Without their big impact forces, we would probably have not been able to recognize that the ground-force patterns of all runners, regardless of their foot-strike mechanics and running speed, have two basic parts.”

When the researchers first began to analyze the seemingly complicated force waveform signals, they found that they were actually composed of two very simple overlapping waveforms, Ryan said.

“Our computer generated the best pattern predictions when the timing of the first waveform coincided with the high-speed video of the ankle stopping on impact. This was true to within a millisecond, every single time. And we did it hundreds of times,” he said. “So we knew we had a direct physical relationship between force and motion that provided a critical insight.”

New approach has potential to diagnose injury, rehab
The SMU team’s new concise waveforms potentially have diagnostic possibilities, Weyand said.

For example, a runner’s pre-injury waveforms could be compared to their post-injury and post-rehab waveforms.

“You could potentially identify the asymmetries of runners with tibial stress fractures, Achilles tendonitis or other injuries by comparing the force patterns of their injured and healthy legs,” he said.

And while medical images could suggest the injury has healed, their waveforms might tell a different story.

“The waveform patterns might show the athlete continues to run with less force on the injured limb. So it may offer an inexpensive diagnostic tool that was not previously available,” Weyand said.

Tags Annette Caldwell Simmons School of Education & Human Development, Kenneth Clark, Laurence Ryan, Peter Weyand

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ESPN: SMU Locomotor Performance Lab spotlighted during SMU-Texas A&M football game

Post author By Margaret Allen
Post date September 24, 2014

Weyand’s research on the limits of human and animal performance has led to featured appearances on the BBC, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, CNN, the Discovery Channel, the History Channel, NHK Television Japan, NPR and others.

The SMU Locomotor Performance Laboratory saw a few minutes of play during the SMU-Texas A&M football game Saturday, Sept. 20, 2014.

ESPN’s broadcast team stopped by to see the reigning U.S. national 400-meter champion Gil Roberts on the lab’s high-tech treadmill.

SMU physiologist and biomechanics expert Peter Weyand and his team at the lab study human performance and the boundaries of human speed.

binary stars, SMU, Lake Highlands, Quarknet, discovery

Weyand, recognized worldwide as an expert in human running performance, worked with Roberts on the lab’s specially equipped treadmill — it can go up to 90 miles an hour — which can measure how forcefully an athlete’s feet hit the ground.

As an athlete runs, the lab’s ultra high-speed video system (normally used in the entertainment-animation-video game design industry) can capture 1,000 frames a second, delivering accurate and detailed data about a runner’s biomechanics.

In the lab’s most recent published study, “Key to speed? Elite sprinters are unlike other athletes — deliver forceful punch to ground,” the scientists found that the key to speed is how forcefully athletes hit the ground — not how quickly they reposition their legs. They found that at top speed the world’s fastest runners take just as long to reposition their legs as an average Joe.

Weyand is an expert in the locomotion of humans and other terrestrial animals with broad research interests that focus on the relationships between muscle function, metabolic energy expenditure, whole body mechanics and performance.

His research draws on the largely distinct traditions of human exercise physiology and comparative biomechanics to consider basic functional issues.

Weyand’s research on the limits of human and animal performance has led to featured appearances on the British Broadcasting Corporation, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, CNN, the Discovery Channel, the History Channel, NHK Television Japan, National Public Radio and others.

The lab is part of the Annette Caldwell Simmons School of Education & Human Development.

Follow SMUResearch.com on twitter at @smuresearch.

SMU is a nationally ranked private university in Dallas founded 100 years ago. Today, SMU enrolls nearly 11,000 students who benefit from the academic opportunities and international reach of seven degree-granting schools. For more information see www.smu.edu.

SMU has an uplink facility located on campus for live TV, radio, or online interviews. To speak with an SMU expert or book an SMU guest in the studio, call SMU News & Communications at 214-768-7650.

Tags Annette Caldwell Simmons School of Education & Human Development, Kenneth Clark, Laurence Ryan, Peter Weyand

Health & Medicine Learning & Education Plants & Animals Researcher news SMU In The News Student researchers

Shape: How to Run Like an Elite Sprinter

Post author By Margaret Allen
Post date August 27, 2014

Sprinters lift their knees higher before driving their foot down, like a hammer striking a nail, says Clark.

Shape magazine reporter Amanda MacMillan has covered the research of SMU researcher Ken Clark, a doctoral student and researcher in the SMU Locomotor Performance Laboratory. The lab and research are under the direction of SMU biomechanics expert Peter G. Weyand, associate professor of applied physiology and biomechanics.

Clark’s and Weyand’s new research found that the world’s fastest sprinters have unique gait features that account for their ability to achieve fast speeds.

The new findings indicate that the secret to elite sprinting speeds lies in the distinct limb dynamics sprinters use to elevate ground forces upon foot-ground impact.

The Shape article, “How to run like an elite sprinter,” published Aug. 26.

Read the full story.

EXCERPT:

By Amanda MacMillan
Shape
Scientists say they’ve figured out why elite sprinters are so much faster than the rest of us mere mortals, and surprisingly, it has nothing to do with the donuts we ate for breakfast. The world’s fastest runners have a significantly different gait pattern than other athletes, according to a new study from Southern Methodist University—and it’s one that we can train our own bodies to emulate.

When researchers studied the running patterns of competitive 100- and 200-meter dash athletes versus competitive soccer, lacrosse, and football players, they found that the sprinters run with a more upright posture, and lift their knees higher before driving their foot down. Their feet and ankles remain stiff upon making contact with the ground too—”like a hammer striking a nail,” says study co-author Ken Clark, “which caused them to have short ground contact times, large vertical forces, and elite top speeds.”

Most athletes, on the other hand, act more like a spring when they run, says Clark: “Their foot strikes aren’t as aggressive, and their landings are a little more soft and loose,” causing much of their potential power to be absorbed rather than expended. This “normal” technique is effective for endurance running, when runners need to conserve their energy (and go easier on their joints) over longer time periods. But for short distances, says Clark, moving more like an elite sprinter may help even normal runners pick up explosive speed.

Read the full story.

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For more information, www.smuresearch.com.

SMU is a nationally ranked private university in Dallas founded 100 years ago. Today, SMU enrolls nearly 11,000 students who benefit from the academic opportunities and international reach of seven degree-granting schools. For more information see www.smu.edu.

SMU has an uplink facility located on campus for live TV, radio, or online interviews. To speak with an SMU expert or book an SMU guest in the studio, call SMU News & Communications at 214-768-7650.

Tags Annette Caldwell Simmons School of Education & Human Development, Kenneth Clark, Peter Weyand

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Key to speed? Elite sprinters are unlike other athletes — deliver forceful punch to ground

Post author By Margaret Allen

Post date August 25, 2014

New research finds that world-class sprinters attack the ground to maximize impact forces and speed

The world’s fastest sprinters have unique gait features that account for their ability to achieve fast speeds, according to two new studies from Southern Methodist University, Dallas.

The new findings indicate that the secret to elite sprinting speeds lies in the distinct limb dynamics sprinters use to elevate ground forces upon foot-ground impact.

“Our new studies show that these elite sprinters don’t use their legs to just bounce off the ground as most other runners do,” said human biomechanics expert and lead author on the studies Ken Clark, a researcher in the SMU Locomotor Performance Laboratory. “The top sprinters have developed a wind-up and delivery mechanism to augment impact forces. Other runners do not do so.”

The new findings address a major performance question that has remained unanswered for more than a decade.

Previous studies had established that faster runners attain faster speeds by hitting the ground more forcefully than other runners do in relation to their body weight. However, how faster runners are able to do this was fully unknown. That sparked considerable debate and uncertainty about the best strategies for athletes to enhance ground-force application and speed.

“Elite speed athletes have a running pattern that is distinct,” Clark said. “Our data indicate the fastest sprinters each have identified the same solution for maximizing speed, which strongly implies that when you put the physics and the biology together, there’s only one way to sprint really fast.”

The critical and distinctive gait features identified by the study’s authors occur as the lower limb approaches and impacts the ground, said study co-author and running mechanics expert Peter Weyand, director of the SMU Locomotor Performance Lab.

“We found that the fastest athletes all do the same thing to apply the greater forces needed to attain faster speeds,” Weyand said. “They cock the knee high before driving the foot into the ground, while maintaining a stiff ankle. These actions elevate ground forces by stopping the lower leg abruptly upon impact.”

The new research indicates that the fastest runners decelerate their foot and ankle in just over two-hundredths of a second after initial contact with the ground.

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Ken Clark

Laurence J. Ryan

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Journal of Applied Physiology: “Are running speeds maximized with simple-spring stance mechanics?“

The Journal of Experimental Biology: “Foot speed, foot-strike and footwear: linking gait mechanics and running ground reaction forces“

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Youtube channel: SMU Locomotor Performance Laboratory

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The researchers reported their findings with co-author and physicist Laurence J. Ryan, research engineer for the SMU Locomotor Performance Laboratory in the Annette Caldwell Simmons School of Education & Human Development.

The finding that elite sprinters apply greater ground forces with a distinctive impact pattern is reported in the Journal of Applied Physiology in the article, “Are running speeds maximized with simple-spring stance mechanics?” It appears online at http://bit.ly/1Be92Mk in advance of appearing in the print journal.

The finding that faster athletes deliver a firm, rapid punch to the ground upon contact is reported in The Journal of Experimental Biology, in the article “Foot speed, foot-strike and footwear: linking gait mechanics and running ground reaction forces.” It appears online at http://bit.ly/1uskM9v.

Studies compared data from competitive sprinters to other athletes
The tests conducted at SMU’s Locomotor Performance Lab compared competitive sprinters to other fast-running athletes.

The competitive sprinting group included track athletes who specialized in the 100- and 200-meter events. More than half had international experience and had participated in the Olympics and Track and Field World Championships.

They were compared to a group of athletes that included competitive soccer, lacrosse and football players.

All the athletes in both groups had mid- and fore-foot strike patterns. Their running mechanics were tested on a custom, high-speed force treadmill that allowed the researchers to capture and analyze hundreds of footfalls at precisely controlled speeds. Video captured for the studies is posted to the SMU Locomotor Performance Lab Youtube channel. Images on flickr are at http://bit.ly/YKwAtB.

The researchers measured ground-force patterns over a full range of running speeds for each athlete from a jog to top sprinting speed.

“We looked at running speeds ranging from 3 to 11 meters per second,” Clark said. “Earlier studies in the field of biomechanics have examined ground reaction force patterns, but focused primarily on jogging speeds between 3 and 5 meters per second. The differences we found became identifiable largely because of the broad range of speeds we examined and the caliber of the sprinters who participated in the study.”

Classic spring model of running does not explain the unique gait features of top sprinters
The contemporary view of running mechanics has been heavily influenced by the simple spring-mass model, a theory first formulated in the late 1980s. The spring-mass model assumes the legs work essentially like the compression spring of a pogo stick when in contact with the ground.

In this theory, during running at a constant speed on level ground, the body falls down out of the air. Upon landing, the support leg acts like a pogo stick to catch the body and pop it back up in the air for the next step.

It’s been generally assumed that this classic spring model applies to faster running speeds and faster athletes as well as to slower ones.

Elite sprinters do not conform to widely accepted theories of running mechanics
Clark, Ryan and Weyand questioned whether such a passive catch-and-rebound explanation could account for the greater ground forces widely understood as the reason why sprinters achieve faster speeds.

After the researchers gathered ground reaction force waveform data, they found that sprinters differed from other athletes. From there they compared the waveforms to those predicted by the simple spring in the classic model.

“The elite sprinters did not conform to the spring-model predictions,” said Clark. “They deviated a lot, specifically during the first half of the ground-contact phase. Our athlete non-sprinters, on the other hand, conformed fairly closely to the spring-model predictions, even at their top speeds.”

Weyand said the new findings indicate that the classic spring model is not sufficient for understanding the mechanical basis of sprint running performance.

“We found all the fastest athletes applied greater ground forces with a common and apparently characteristic pattern that resulted from the same basic gait features,” he said. “What these sprinters do differently is in their wind up and delivery mechanics. The motion of their limbs in the air is distinct; so even though the duration of their limb-swing phase at top speed does not differ from other runners, the force delivery mechanism differs markedly.”

Sprinters have a common mechanical solution for speed — one that athletes who aren’t as fast do not execute.

“This provides scientific information so coaches and athletes can fully identify what to train,” Clark said. “It is our hope that our results can translate into advances in evidence-based approaches to training speed.”

The research was funded by the U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command and SMU’s Simmons School of Education and Human Development. — Margaret Allen

Follow SMUResearch.com on twitter at @smuresearch.

SMU is a nationally ranked private university in Dallas founded 100 years ago. Today, SMU enrolls nearly 11,000 students who benefit from the academic opportunities and international reach of seven degree-granting schools. For more information see www.smu.edu.

SMU has an uplink facility located on campus for live TV, radio, or online interviews. To speak with an SMU expert or book an SMU guest in the studio, call SMU News & Communications at 214-768-7650.

Tags Annette Caldwell Simmons School of Education & Human Development, Kenneth Clark, Laurence Ryan, Peter Weyand, video

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Lexington Herald-Leader: Cuban asks scientist to study physics of flopping

Post author By Margaret Allen

Post date June 17, 2013

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To book a live or taped interview with Peter Weyand in the SMU News Broadcast Studio call SMU News at 214-768-7650 or email news@smu.edu.

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Kentucky’s Lexington Herald-Leader covered the research of SMU biomechanics expert Peter G. Weyand, who is teaming with Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban to investigate the forces involved in basketball collisions and the possibility of estimating “flopping” forces from video data.

Herald-Leader Journalist Jerry Tipton quoted Weyand in his June 15 UK basketball column on the flopping research, “Cuban asks scientist to study physics of flopping.

Flopping is a player’s deliberate act of falling, or recoiling unnecessarily from a nearby opponent, to deceive game officials. Athletes engage in dramatic flopping to create the illusion of illegal contact, hoping to bait officials into calling undeserved fouls on opponents.

The phenomenon is considered a widespread problem in professional basketball and soccer. To discourage the practice, the National Basketball Association in 2012 began a system of escalating fines against NBA players suspected of flopping, including during the playoffs, “NBA announces anti-flopping rules for playoffs.”

The Cuban-owned company Radical Hoops Ltd. awarded a grant of more than $100,000 to fund the 18-month research study at SMU.

Read the full story.

EXCERPT:
By Jerry Tipton
Herald-Leader
The defender might be a foot taller and 75 pounds heavier. Yet, contact with the smaller player sends him flying backward. When the referee calls charging, even a casual basketball fan senses injustice.

The illogic of these kiddie car-demolishes-pickup truck collisions moved Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban to take action. He commissioned a scientific study of basketball’s all-too-common lapse into kabuki theatre: the offensive foul. Cuban, an unabashed critic of NBA officiating, had his company, Radical Hoops Ltd, donate $100,000 to Southern Methodist University to study the physics involved in these collisions, it was announced last week.

Peter Weyand, an associate professor of applied physiology and biomechanics at SMU, will lead what’s being billed as an 18-month investigation into mass, force and acceleration in baggy shorts. Sir Isaac Newton meets C.M. Newton.

Weyand and his team will try to determine how much force is required to “legitimately” knock a defender off his feet. They also hope to develop a metric to determine if such a force existed in any particular block/charge incident. In theory, a video review using this metric would lead to punishment for flopping.

Meanwhile, referees roll their eyes.

“Basketball officiating is an art,” said John Hampton, Kentucky native and Southeastern Conference official. “It is not a science. I am extremely skeptical of the whole project.”

Read the full story.

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For more information, www.smuresearch.com.

SMU is a nationally ranked private university in Dallas founded 100 years ago. Today, SMU enrolls nearly 11,000 students who benefit from the academic opportunities and international reach of seven degree-granting schools. For more information see www.smu.edu.

SMU has an uplink facility located on campus for live TV, radio, or online interviews. To speak with an SMU expert or book an SMU guest in the studio, call SMU News & Communications at 214-768-7650.

Tags Annette Caldwell Simmons School of Education & Human Development, Geoffrey Brown, Kenneth Clark, Laurence Ryan, Peter Weyand

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HuffPost: Mark Cuban donates $100,000 to research NBA flopping

Post author By Margaret Allen

Post date June 12, 2013

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To book a live or taped interview with Peter Weyand in the SMU News Broadcast Studio call SMU News at 214-768-7650 or email news@smu.edu.

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News blog Huffington Post picked up the video coverage by KDAF’s CW33 Nightcap News of the research of SMU biomechanics expert Peter G. Weyand, who is teaming with Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban to investigate the forces involved in basketball collisions and the possibility of estimating “flopping” forces from video data.

Huffington Post reposted the Nightcap News video at “Mark Cuban Gives $100K to SMU to Fight NBA Flopping

KDAF’s CW33 Nightcap News coverage, Mark Cuban Gives $100K to SMU to Fight NBA Flopping, was posted June 7.

Flopping is a player’s deliberate act of falling, or recoiling unnecessarily from a nearby opponent, to deceive game officials. Athletes engage in dramatic flopping to create the illusion of illegal contact, hoping to bait officials into calling undeserved fouls on opponents.

The phenomenon is considered a widespread problem in professional basketball and soccer. To discourage the practice, the National Basketball Association in 2012 began a system of escalating fines against NBA players suspected of flopping, including during the playoffs, “NBA announces anti-flopping rules for playoffs.”

The Cuban-owned company Radical Hoops Ltd. awarded a grant of more than $100,000 to fund the 18-month research study at SMU.

Watch the video at Nightcap News.

EXCERPT:
By Barry Carpenter
Nightcap News
The NBA–full of the biggest, fastest athletes in the world and all too often some of the worst actors. Witness flopping.
“This first play is an example that will be penalized.” The narrator on the video said.

The video shows the small player fighting through a pick and sending the much larger player flying.

As explained by the narrator, impossible.

“However the contact of the player is inconsistent with the grossly embellished fall to the floor.”

It happens all the time in the NBA and that’s apparently why the league issued this “What’s a flop and What’s not” training video for the 2012-2013 season.

Technically–flopping is defined by the as a physical act that appears to have been intended to cause the referees to call a foul on another player.

For those who don’t like basketball–let’s take it from the hardwood to the hallway.

Robert and Claire are both heading for the Nightcap coffee pot–at the same time–when all of the sudden the two make contact. Robert is jolted back, he stumbles and falls–looking for a little help.

That is a classic flop–and if Robert was in the NBA he could be fined $5,000.00.

Speaking of money—Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban wants to understand the dynamics of flopping and is giving SMU biomechanics experts a $100,000.00 grant to see how much contact is needed for a player to really flop.

SMU officials say their findings may lead to video reviews of flopping.

Watch the video at Nightcap News.

Follow SMUResearch.com on Twitter.

For more information, www.smuresearch.com.

SMU is a nationally ranked private university in Dallas founded 100 years ago. Today, SMU enrolls nearly 11,000 students who benefit from the academic opportunities and international reach of seven degree-granting schools. For more information see www.smu.edu.

SMU has an uplink facility located on campus for live TV, radio, or online interviews. To speak with an SMU expert or book an SMU guest in the studio, call SMU News & Communications at 214-768-7650.

Tags Annette Caldwell Simmons School of Education & Human Development, Geoffrey Brown, Kenneth Clark, Laurence Ryan, Peter Weyand

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Star Telegram: Eliminate flopping? Godspeed, Mark Cuban

Post author By Margaret Allen

Post date June 11, 2013

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To book a live or taped interview with Peter Weyand in the SMU News Broadcast Studio call SMU News at 214-768-7650 or email news@smu.edu.

Related links

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Peter Weyand, Dept. Applied Physiology & Wellness
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Fort Worth Star Telegram sports writer Mac Engel covered the research of SMU biomechanics expert Peter G. Weyand, who is teaming with Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban to investigate the forces involved in basketball collisions and the possibility of estimating “flopping” forces from video data.

The coverage in Engel’s The Big Mac Blog, “Eliminate flopping? Godspeed, Mark Cuban,” was posted June 11.

Flopping is a player’s deliberate act of falling, or recoiling unnecessarily from a nearby opponent, to deceive game officials. Athletes engage in dramatic flopping to create the illusion of illegal contact, hoping to bait officials into calling undeserved fouls on opponents.

The phenomenon is considered a widespread problem in professional basketball and soccer. To discourage the practice, the National Basketball Association in 2012 began a system of escalating fines against NBA players suspected of flopping, including during the playoffs, “NBA announces anti-flopping rules for playoffs.”

The Cuban-owned company Radical Hoops Ltd. awarded a grant of more than $100,000 to fund the 18-month research study at SMU.

Read the full story

EXCERPT:
By Mac Engel
Star Telegram
Must be great to have Mark Cuban cash.

In front of Mark is a pile of $100,000 that he can:
a.) Burn
b.) Issue a research grant on NBA players flopping.

The obvious choice is B, all the way. This is the definition of money well spent.

Since Cuban bought the Mavs no one in the NBA has leaned on the league for a better product, from the fan experience to the refs to now – no flopping. Refs in the NBA have sucked for years, they still do, because it’s an impossible job and the only good ref is the one you don’t notice.

It’s odd – when the Mavs won the NBA title in 2011, the refs were incredible. Probably just a coincidence.

Now Cuban is working on the widespread epidemic of NBA flopping by granting $100K to SMU to solve this massive crisis.

Only there is no solution, even the best player Cuban agrees this is a fruitless exercise.

“I think we’re trying; you’re never going to get rid of it but you have to limit it,” Dirk Nowitzki told a small group of reporters on Monday at a Dallas YMCA. “I think it’s also part of sports. In any sports, it’s a part. It’s part of winning. Some people are smart; some people do a little extra thing to sell a call. To me, that’s part of sports. You don’t want to be obvious; the really, really bad ones you’d love to get rid of those.

Read more here: http://sportsblogs.star-telegram.com/mac-engel/2013/06/eliminate-flopping-godspeed-mark-cuban.html#storylink=cpy

Read the full story

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SMU is a nationally ranked private university in Dallas founded 100 years ago. Today, SMU enrolls nearly 11,000 students who benefit from the academic opportunities and international reach of seven degree-granting schools. For more information see www.smu.edu.

SMU has an uplink facility located on campus for live TV, radio, or online interviews. To speak with an SMU expert or book an SMU guest in the studio, call SMU News & Communications at 214-768-7650.

Tags Geoffrey Brown, Kenneth Clark, Laurence Ryan, Peter Weyand

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KERA: Fed Up With ‘Flopping,’ Mark Cuban Funds SMU Study

Post author By Margaret Allen

Post date June 11, 2013

Book a live interview

To book a live or taped interview with Peter Weyand in the SMU News Broadcast Studio call SMU News at 214-768-7650 or email news@smu.edu.

Related links

SMU Faculty Expert: Peter Weyand
Peter Weyand, Dept. Applied Physiology & Wellness
Journal of Applied Physiology: “The biological limits to running speed are imposed from the ground up”
“The mass-specific energy cost of human walking is set by stature”
SMU Locomotor Performance Laboratory
Annette Caldwell Simmons School of Education & Human Development

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KERA journalist Lauren Silverman covered the research of SMU biomechanics expert Peter G. Weyand, who is teaming with Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban to investigate the forces involved in basketball collisions and the possibility of estimating “flopping” forces from video data.

The coverage, “Fed Up With ‘Flopping,’ Mark Cuban Funds SMU Study,” was posted June 7.

Flopping is a player’s deliberate act of falling, or recoiling unnecessarily from a nearby opponent, to deceive game officials. Athletes engage in dramatic flopping to create the illusion of illegal contact, hoping to bait officials into calling undeserved fouls on opponents.

The phenomenon is considered a widespread problem in professional basketball and soccer. To discourage the practice, the National Basketball Association in 2012 began a system of escalating fines against NBA players suspected of flopping, including during the playoffs, “NBA announces anti-flopping rules for playoffs.”

The Cuban-owned company Radical Hoops Ltd. awarded a grant of more than $100,000 to fund the 18-month research study at SMU.

Read the full story

EXCERPT:
By Lauren Silverman
KERA
Phony falls in basketball just got serious. Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban has teamed up with biomechanics experts at Southern Methodist University to study “flopping” — when a player deliberately falls to deceive referees into thinking there’s been a foul.

Flopping is considered a widespread problem in basketball. In 2012, the NBA began a system of escalating fines against NBA players suspected of flopping. In fact, the league implemented a special anti-flopping fine system for the current playoffs. (Watch out, Tim Duncan!) Now, NBA commissioner David Stern is considering increasing the penalties.

Right now, the first violation results in a $5,000 fine (check out the full breakdown at NBA.com). If a player violates the anti-flopping rule five times or more, “he will be subject to discipline that is reasonable under the circumstances, including an increased fine and/or suspension.”

The problem is, it can be hard to tell whether a player is faking a fall or really got knocked off balance. That’s why Cuban has spent more than $100,000 to fund a research study at SMU in Dallas. Biomechanics expert Peter Weyand, who leads the research team, says, “There has been a lot of research into balance and falls in the elderly, but relatively little on active adults and athletes.”

Read the full story

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For more information, www.smuresearch.com.

SMU is a nationally ranked private university in Dallas founded 100 years ago. Today, SMU enrolls nearly 11,000 students who benefit from the academic opportunities and international reach of seven degree-granting schools. For more information see www.smu.edu.

SMU has an uplink facility located on campus for live TV, radio, or online interviews. To speak with an SMU expert or book an SMU guest in the studio, call SMU News & Communications at 214-768-7650.

Tags Annette Caldwell Simmons School of Education & Human Development, Geoffrey Brown, Kenneth Clark, Laurence Ryan, Peter Weyand

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WSJ: Physics of Flopping — Cuban Backs a Study

Post author By Margaret Allen

Post date June 10, 2013

Book a live interview

To book a live or taped interview with Peter Weyand in the SMU News Broadcast Studio call SMU News at 214-768-7650 or email news@smu.edu.

Related links

SMU Faculty Expert: Peter Weyand
Peter Weyand, Dept. Applied Physiology & Wellness
Journal of Applied Physiology: “The biological limits to running speed are imposed from the ground up”
“The mass-specific energy cost of human walking is set by stature”
SMU Locomotor Performance Laboratory
Annette Caldwell Simmons School of Education & Human Development

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Journalist Ben Cohen with The Wall Street Journal covered the research of SMU biomechanics expert Peter G. Weyand, who is teaming with Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban to investigate the forces involved in basketball collisions and the possibility of estimating “flopping” forces from video data.

The coverage, “Physics of Flopping: Cuban Backs a Study,” was posted June 7.

Flopping is a player’s deliberate act of falling, or recoiling unnecessarily from a nearby opponent, to deceive game officials. Athletes engage in dramatic flopping to create the illusion of illegal contact, hoping to bait officials into calling undeserved fouls on opponents.

The phenomenon is considered a widespread problem in professional basketball and soccer. To discourage the practice, the National Basketball Association in 2012 began a system of escalating fines against NBA players suspected of flopping, including during the playoffs, “NBA announces anti-flopping rules for playoffs.”

The Cuban-owned company Radical Hoops Ltd. awarded a grant of more than $100,000 to fund the 18-month research study at SMU.

Read the full story

EXCERPT:
By Ben Cohen
The Wall Street Journal
A big name in the NBA is backing a team of biomechanics researchers interested in a modern sports phenomenon: flopping.

Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban not only inspired the Southern Methodist University project, which was announced Friday, but also invested more than $100,000 in what is thought to be the first study of its kind. Cuban said he was curious about the physics of flopping—how and why a 250-pound player, for example, crashes when he runs into someone under 200 pounds.

“If you look at a high-contact sport like football, you see few pancakes, where guys end up on their behinds,” Cuban wrote in an email. “Yet in our sport, guys end up on their backsides all the time.”

SMU biomechanics professor Peter Weyand expects the study will combine video techniques with collisions measuring force. One tricky part is the lack of prior work in the field of flopology. “A lot of scientific experiments follow on the heels of prior experiments,” he said. “This is a novel scientific venture.”

Cuban said the NBA, which introduced fines for floppers before this season, can benefit from “a template that defines some basic guidelines on what levels of force, speed and size” contribute to genuine falls. The goal is to “take out guessing and reduce the amount of judgment involved.”

The study also could have personal benefits for the outspoken Cuban. “If we get great data we can learn from, it will save me a ton of money in fines,” he wrote with a smiley face.

Read the full story

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For more information, www.smuresearch.com.

SMU is a nationally ranked private university in Dallas founded 100 years ago. Today, SMU enrolls nearly 11,000 students who benefit from the academic opportunities and international reach of seven degree-granting schools. For more information see www.smu.edu.

SMU has an uplink facility located on campus for live TV, radio, or online interviews. To speak with an SMU expert or book an SMU guest in the studio, call SMU News & Communications at 214-768-7650.

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New York Daily News: Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban funds flopping study

Post author By Margaret Allen

Post date June 10, 2013

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SMU Faculty Expert: Peter Weyand
Peter Weyand, Dept. Applied Physiology & Wellness
Journal of Applied Physiology: “The biological limits to running speed are imposed from the ground up”
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New York Daily News journalist Amara Grautski covered the research of SMU biomechanics expert Peter G. Weyand, who is teaming with Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban to investigate the forces involved in basketball collisions and the possibility of estimating “flopping” forces from video data.

The coverage, “Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban funds flopping study,” was posted June 7.

Flopping is a player’s deliberate act of falling, or recoiling unnecessarily from a nearby opponent, to deceive game officials. Athletes engage in dramatic flopping to create the illusion of illegal contact, hoping to bait officials into calling undeserved fouls on opponents.

The phenomenon is considered a widespread problem in professional basketball and soccer. To discourage the practice, the National Basketball Association in 2012 began a system of escalating fines against NBA players suspected of flopping, including during the playoffs, “NBA announces anti-flopping rules for playoffs.”

The Cuban-owned company Radical Hoops Ltd. awarded a grant of more than $100,000 to fund the 18-month research study at SMU.

Read the story

EXCERPT:
By Amara Grautski
New York Daily News
Instead of just wondering whether players like LeBron James or Lance Stephenson are intentionally hitting the hardwood, Mark Cuban is taking action by funding research that will delve into the fine art of flopping.

The Cuban-owned company Radical Hoops Ltd. awarded a grant of more than $100,000 to biomechanics experts at Southern Methodist University, so they can carry out an 18-month research study on the subject.

On Friday, the Mavericks owner said on Twitter, “Is it a flop ? Let the scientists figure it out . im paying for the research to find out.”

The NBA began fining players this year for trying to fool referees into calling fouls, and the league introduced an even stronger anti-flopping policy just before the 2013 playoffs. The postseason policy removes a warning for first-time offenders and now assesses fines immediately.

James, Stephenson and the Pacers’ David West were all fined $5,000 by the NBA on May 30 for violating the league’s anti-flopping policy during the Eastern Conference finals. Grizzlies guard Tony Allen was also hit with a $5,000 fine during the Western Conference finals against the Spurs. But before Game 1 of the NBA Finals, commissioner David Stern said the penalties still aren’t enough.

How could the research Cuban is funding help clear things up? In a statement, SMU biomechanics expert Peter G. Weyand said the “findings could conceivably contribute to video reviews of flopping and the subsequent assignment of fines.

“It may be possible to enhance video reviews by adding a scientific element, but we won’t know this until we have the data from this study in hand.”

Read the story

Follow SMUResearch.com on Twitter.

For more information, www.smuresearch.com.

SMU is a nationally ranked private university in Dallas founded 100 years ago. Today, SMU enrolls nearly 11,000 students who benefit from the academic opportunities and international reach of seven degree-granting schools. For more information see www.smu.edu.

SMU has an uplink facility located on campus for live TV, radio, or online interviews. To speak with an SMU expert or book an SMU guest in the studio, call SMU News & Communications at 214-768-7650.

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Yahoo! Sports: Mark Cuban’s $100K sponsors a university’s study on the mechanics and fallout of NBA flopping

Post author By Margaret Allen

Post date June 10, 2013

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To book a live or taped interview with Peter Weyand in the SMU News Broadcast Studio call SMU News at 214-768-7650 or email news@smu.edu.

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SMU Faculty Expert: Peter Weyand

Peter Weyand, Dept. Applied Physiology & Wellness

Journal of Applied Physiology: “The biological limits to running speed are imposed from the ground up”

“The mass-specific energy cost of human walking is set by stature“

SMU Locomotor Performance Laboratory

Annette Caldwell Simmons School of Education & Human Development

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Yahoo! Sports journalist Kelly Dwyer covered the research of SMU biomechanics expert Peter G. Weyand, who is teaming with Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban to investigate the forces involved in basketball collisions and the possibility of estimating “flopping” forces from video data.

The coverage, “Mark Cuban’s $100K sponsors a university’s study on the mechanics and fallout of NBA flopping,” was posted June 7.

Flopping is a player’s deliberate act of falling, or recoiling unnecessarily from a nearby opponent, to deceive game officials. Athletes engage in dramatic flopping to create the illusion of illegal contact, hoping to bait officials into calling undeserved fouls on opponents.

The phenomenon is considered a widespread problem in professional basketball and soccer. To discourage the practice, the National Basketball Association in 2012 began a system of escalating fines against NBA players suspected of flopping, including during the playoffs, “NBA announces anti-flopping rules for playoffs.”

The Cuban-owned company Radical Hoops Ltd. awarded a grant of more than $100,000 to fund the 18-month research study at SMU.

Read the full story

EXCERPT:
By Kelly Dwyer
Yahoo! Sports
Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban apparently agrees with about one hundred percent of basketball’s fandom when it comes to the practice of flopping to draw a foul call. In the years since he became Maverick owner in Jan. of 2000, Cuban has lightened his aggressive touch when it came to harassing refs from the sideline, or (if you’ll recall, from autumn of 2000) posting screenshots of a missed call on his team’s scoreboard following a loss for everyone to see.

Cuban is shooting for a more well-heeled, and subsequently more well-researched route these days. He’s sponsoring a team of biomechanics experts at Southern Methodist University, as they research the forces behind and end-result bottom lines from all of this flippity-flopping. […]

[…] Good work, Mr. Cuban, professors, Peter, the elderly, Vlade.

I can safely say that I’m just about all out of patience with the art around flopping. Not the art of flopping, that grew tiresome in the late 1990s even before the NBA put the semi-circle around the basket to make block/charge calls easier. Rather, the unending, eye-rolling amount of chatter from mainstream bloggers, on-air analysts, and chanting fans.

Guys, we get it. NBA players flop. This is the end result of attempting to call a contest featuring the world’s greatest athletes properly.

The NBA’s referees, in a reaction to the clutch-and-grab style that made so many mid-1990s NBA games so rough to watch, started to more aggressively call contact. That decision made the games infinitely more watchable, but as a result players learned that the occasional quick movement following implied contact, or overstated reaction to real contact (or, as SMU puts it, the “deliberate act of falling, or recoiling unnecessarily from a nearby opponent, to deceive game officials”), could lead to a quick whistle from a ref that doesn’t know that he or she had been duped.

That’s the price you pay for accurately called games. Refereeing in the NBA is impossibly tough, and refs are forced into making split-second decisions with their whistles that they’ll sometimes regret. And even if it’s obvious in real time that this particular move was a flop and not a foul-worthy bit of contact, it hardly matters – referees are human, and humans make mistakes. Especially when they’re asked by their bosses to make calls instantly and with no hesitation, with an emphasis on discouraging physical play.

Read the full story

Follow SMUResearch.com on Twitter.

For more information, www.smuresearch.com.

SMU is a nationally ranked private university in Dallas founded 100 years ago. Today, SMU enrolls nearly 11,000 students who benefit from the academic opportunities and international reach of seven degree-granting schools. For more information see www.smu.edu.

SMU has an uplink facility located on campus for live TV, radio, or online interviews. To speak with an SMU expert or book an SMU guest in the studio, call SMU News & Communications at 214-768-7650.

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Dallas Observer: Mark Cuban and SMU Are Teaming Up for an Important Scientific Study of NBA Flopping

Post author By Margaret Allen

Post date June 7, 2013

Book a live interview

To book a live or taped interview with Peter Weyand in the SMU News Broadcast Studio call SMU News at 214-768-7650 or email news@smu.edu.

Related links

SMU Faculty Expert: Peter Weyand
Peter Weyand, Dept. Applied Physiology & Wellness
Journal of Applied Physiology: “The biological limits to running speed are imposed from the ground up”
“The mass-specific energy cost of human walking is set by stature”
SMU Locomotor Performance Laboratory
Annette Caldwell Simmons School of Education & Human Development

More SMU Research news

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Journalist Eric Nicholson with the Dallas Observer covered the research of SMU biomechanics expert Peter G. Weyand, who is teaming with Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban to investigate the forces involved in basketball collisions and the possibility of estimating “flopping” forces from video data.

The coverage, “Mark Cuban and SMU Are Teaming Up for an Important Scientific Study of NBA Flopping,” was posted June 7.

Flopping is a player’s deliberate act of falling, or recoiling unnecessarily from a nearby opponent, to deceive game officials. Athletes engage in dramatic flopping to create the illusion of illegal contact, hoping to bait officials into calling undeserved fouls on opponents.

The phenomenon is considered a widespread problem in professional basketball and soccer. To discourage the practice, the National Basketball Association in 2012 began a system of escalating fines against NBA players suspected of flopping, including during the playoffs, “NBA announces anti-flopping rules for playoffs.”

The Cuban-owned company Radical Hoops Ltd. awarded a grant of more than $100,000 to fund the 18-month research study at SMU.

Read the full story.

EXCERPT:
Eric Nicholson
Dallas Observer
Taking a charge in basketball is an art, and it has been for a long time. A not-insignificant portion of high school basketball practices — at least as of a decade ago — are dedicated to training players on coming to an abrupt stop, setting one’s feet just so, and falling as if they’ve been clothes-lined by a freight train. Taking a charge at the right moment can turn a game.

Charges used to be much rarer than they are today, and it’s fairly widely acknowledged that the pendulum has swung too far in favor of the defensive player, who can draw a whistle by flailing wildly to the ground at the lightest touch.

The NBA has been cracking down on flopping this season, and Commissioner David Stern hopes to increase the penalties against players who do so. The $5,000 fine recently laid on LeBron James isn’t much of a disincentive for someone making $33 million per year.

Complicating matters is the fact that it isn’t always easy to discern who’s faking it and who’s really getting knocked on their ass. To help referees and league officials figure that out, SMU announced today that Mavericks owner Mark Cuban is chipping in $100,000 to fund an 18-month academic study on the biomechanics of flopping.

“The issues of collisional forces, balance and control in these types of athletic settings are largely uninvestigated,” SMU biomechanics expert Peter G. Weyand says in a press release. “There has been a lot of research into balance and falls in the elderly, but relatively little on active adults and athletes.”

Read the full story.

Follow SMUResearch.com on Twitter.

For more information, www.smuresearch.com.

SMU is a nationally ranked private university in Dallas founded 100 years ago. Today, SMU enrolls nearly 11,000 students who benefit from the academic opportunities and international reach of seven degree-granting schools. For more information see www.smu.edu.

SMU has an uplink facility located on campus for live TV, radio, or online interviews. To speak with an SMU expert or book an SMU guest in the studio, call SMU News & Communications at 214-768-7650.

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Business Insider: Mark Cuban Is Funding A Scientific Study To End Flopping In The NBA

Post author By Margaret Allen

Post date June 7, 2013

Book a live interview

To book a live or taped interview with Peter Weyand in the SMU News Broadcast Studio call SMU News at 214-768-7650 or email news@smu.edu.

Related links

SMU Faculty Expert: Peter Weyand
Peter Weyand, Dept. Applied Physiology & Wellness
Journal of Applied Physiology: “The biological limits to running speed are imposed from the ground up”
“The mass-specific energy cost of human walking is set by stature”
SMU Locomotor Performance Laboratory
Annette Caldwell Simmons School of Education & Human Development

More SMU Research news

Study: High-volume Bitcoin exchanges less likely to fail, but more likely to suffer breach

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Business Insider covered the research of SMU biomechanics expert Peter G. Weyand, who is teaming with Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban to investigate the forces involved in basketball collisions and the possibility of estimating “flopping” forces from video data.

The coverage, “Mark Cuban Is Funding A Scientific Study To End Flopping In The NBA,” was posted June 7.

Flopping is a player’s deliberate act of falling, or recoiling unnecessarily from a nearby opponent, to deceive game officials. Athletes engage in dramatic flopping to create the illusion of illegal contact, hoping to bait officials into calling undeserved fouls on opponents.

The phenomenon is considered a widespread problem in professional basketball and soccer. To discourage the practice, the National Basketball Association in 2012 began a system of escalating fines against NBA players suspected of flopping, including during the playoffs, “NBA announces anti-flopping rules for playoffs.”

The Cuban-owned company Radical Hoops Ltd. awarded a grant of more than $100,000 to fund the 18-month research study at SMU.

Read the full story.

EXCERPT:
Business Insider
Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban is funding a scientific study into flopping in basketball.

The study will be conducted by biomechanics experts at Southern Methodist University, and it will look into exactly what makes a flop, a flop.

From the university website:

“The researchers will look at how much force is required to cause a legitimate loss of balance. They’ll also examine to what extent players can influence the critical level of force via balance and body control. They will also explore techniques by which the forces involved in collisions might be estimated from video or other motion capture techniques.”

Flopping has become an unseemly part of the NBA game.

The league started fining and publicly shaming floppers this season, but it hasn’t stopped some high-profile flopping incidents in the playoffs.

Right now, determining whether some is or isn’t a flop is largely subjective. It sounds like Cuban and SMU are trying to define the bounds of flopping with science.

Cool!

Read the full story.

Follow SMUResearch.com on Twitter.

For more information, www.smuresearch.com.

SMU is a nationally ranked private university in Dallas founded 100 years ago. Today, SMU enrolls nearly 11,000 students who benefit from the academic opportunities and international reach of seven degree-granting schools. For more information see www.smu.edu.

SMU has an uplink facility located on campus for live TV, radio, or online interviews. To speak with an SMU expert or book an SMU guest in the studio, call SMU News & Communications at 214-768-7650.

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ESPN: Cuban funds flopping study

Post author By Margaret Allen

Post date June 7, 2013

Book a live interview

To book a live or taped interview with Peter Weyand in the SMU News Broadcast Studio call SMU News at 214-768-7650 or email news@smu.edu.

Related links

SMU Faculty Expert: Peter Weyand
Peter Weyand, Dept. Applied Physiology & Wellness
Journal of Applied Physiology: “The biological limits to running speed are imposed from the ground up”
“The mass-specific energy cost of human walking is set by stature”
SMU Locomotor Performance Laboratory
Annette Caldwell Simmons School of Education & Human Development

More SMU Research news

Study: High-volume Bitcoin exchanges less likely to fail, but more likely to suffer breach

Musicians who learn a new melody demonstrate enhanced skill after a night’s sleep

Study finds that newlyweds who are satisfied with marriage are more likely to gain weight

Fruit flies fed organic diets are healthier than flies fed nonorganic diets, study finds

Center for Creative Leadership to study innovative learning method of SMU Lyle School of Engineering

NOvA neutrino detector in Minnesota records first 3-D particle tracks in search to understand universe

Parenting program tackles child abuse and neglect among formerly homeless families

ESPN covered the research of SMU biomechanics expert Peter G. Weyand, who is teaming with Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban to investigate the forces involved in basketball collisions and the possibility of estimating “flopping” forces from video data.

The coverage, “Cuban funds flopping study,” was posted June 7.

Flopping is a player’s deliberate act of falling, or recoiling unnecessarily from a nearby opponent, to deceive game officials. Athletes engage in dramatic flopping to create the illusion of illegal contact, hoping to bait officials into calling undeserved fouls on opponents.

The phenomenon is considered a widespread problem in professional basketball and soccer. To discourage the practice, the National Basketball Association in 2012 began a system of escalating fines against NBA players suspected of flopping, including during the playoffs, “NBA announces anti-flopping rules for playoffs.”

The Cuban-owned company Radical Hoops Ltd. awarded a grant of more than $100,000 to fund the 18-month research study at SMU.

Read the full story

EXCERPT:
ESPN
While NBA commissioner David Stern says the league needs to expand its anti-flopping rules, Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban is funding a study on the practice.

David Stern’s NBA has been aggressively progressive, moving early on everything from globalization, a number of race issues, women in sports, drug testing and many kinds of technology. And now it’s ready to lead the way again, writes Henry Abbott.

One of Cuban’s companies has provided $100,000 to Southern Methodist University for an 18-month investigation of the forces involved in basketball collisions. The goal is to figure out whether video or other motion-capture techniques can distinguish between legitimate collisions and instances of flopping.

“The research findings could conceivably contribute to video reviews of flopping and the subsequent assignment of fines,” SMU biomechanics expert Peter G. Weyand, who leads the research team, said in a statement.

Cuban tweeted: “Is it a flop? Let the scientists figure it out . im paying for the research to find out.”

Stern said Thursday that stronger flopping penalties will be on the agenda when the NBA’s competition committee meets next week in San Antonio.

This season, the league instituted a video-review system that retroactively fined players for flopping. But only five players were fined $5,000 apiece in the regular season, and seven more have been fined that amount in the playoffs.

Dirk Nowitzki joins Fitzsimmons & Durrett live in studio to discuss the moves he expects the Mavericks to make this summer, what his pitch would be to Dwight Howard and Chris Paul, and his upcoming Heroes Celebrity baseball game.

Stern hinted at increasing the penalty for those found guilty of flopping.

“It isn’t enough, it isn’t enough,” Stern said in his annual pre-NBA Finals news conference. “You’re not going to cause somebody to stop it for $5,000 when the average player’s salary is $5.5 million. And anyone who thought that was going to happen was allowing hope to prevail over reason.”

Read the full story

Follow SMUResearch.com on Twitter.

For more information, www.smuresearch.com.

SMU is a nationally ranked private university in Dallas founded 100 years ago. Today, SMU enrolls nearly 11,000 students who benefit from the academic opportunities and international reach of seven degree-granting schools. For more information see www.smu.edu.

SMU has an uplink facility located on campus for live TV, radio, or online interviews. To speak with an SMU expert or book an SMU guest in the studio, call SMU News & Communications at 214-768-7650.

Tags Annette Caldwell Simmons School of Education & Human Development, Geoffrey Brown, Kenneth Clark, Laurence Ryan, Peter Weyand

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Culture, Society & Family Energy & Matter Health & Medicine Learning & Education Student researchers

SMU biomechanics experts team with Mark Cuban to research phony falls in basketball

Post author By Margaret Allen

Post date June 7, 2013

Study will investigate the forces involved in basketball collisions and the possibility of estimating “flopping” forces from video data

Book a live interview

To book a live or taped interview with Peter Weyand in the SMU News Broadcast Studio call SMU News at 214-768-7650 or email news@smu.edu.

Related links

SMU Faculty Expert: Peter Weyand
Peter Weyand, Dept. Applied Physiology & Wellness
Journal of Applied Physiology: “The biological limits to running speed are imposed from the ground up”
“The mass-specific energy cost of human walking is set by stature”
SMU Locomotor Performance Laboratory
Annette Caldwell Simmons School of Education & Human Development

More SMU Research news

Study: High-volume Bitcoin exchanges less likely to fail, but more likely to suffer breach

Musicians who learn a new melody demonstrate enhanced skill after a night’s sleep

Study finds that newlyweds who are satisfied with marriage are more likely to gain weight

Fruit flies fed organic diets are healthier than flies fed nonorganic diets, study finds

Biomechanics experts at Southern Methodist University have teamed with Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban to carry out a scientific study of the unsavory practice of player flopping in basketball and other sports.

Flopping is a player’s deliberate act of falling, or recoiling unnecessarily from a nearby opponent, to deceive game officials. Athletes engage in dramatic flopping to create the illusion of illegal contact, hoping to bait officials into calling undeserved fouls on opponents.

The phenomenon is considered a widespread problem in professional basketball and soccer. To discourage the practice, the National Basketball Association in 2012 began a system of escalating fines against NBA players suspected of flopping, including during the playoffs, “NBA announces anti-flopping rules for playoffs.”

The Cuban-owned company Radical Hoops Ltd. awarded a grant of more than $100,000 to fund the 18-month research study at SMU, Dallas.

“The issues of collisional forces, balance and control in these types of athletic settings are largely uninvestigated,” said SMU biomechanics expert Peter G. Weyand, who leads the research team. “There has been a lot of research into balance and falls in the elderly, but relatively little on active adults and athletes.”

The objective of the research is to investigate the forces involved in typical basketball collisions, said Weyand, an associate professor of applied physiology and biomechanics in the SMU Annette Caldwell Simmons School of Education and Human Development.

Study to look at force, motion in basketball collisions
Other members of the SMU research team include: research engineer and physicist Laurence Ryan; Kenneth Clark, doctoral student in the SMU Locomotor Performance Laboratory; and mechanical engineer Geoffrey Brown.

The researchers will look at how much force is required to cause a legitimate loss of balance. They’ll also examine to what extent players can influence the critical level of force via balance and body control. They will also explore techniques by which the forces involved in collisions might be estimated from video or other motion capture techniques.

The research findings could conceivably contribute to video reviews of flopping and the subsequent assignment of fines, Weyand said. “It may be possible to enhance video reviews by adding a scientific element, but we won’t know this until we have the data from this study in hand.”

Weyand is widely recognized as one of the world’s leading scholars on the scientific basis of human performance. His research integrating the biomechanical and physiological basis of athletic performance has advanced scientific understanding and stimulated evidence-based approaches to performance and training practices across the globe.

Follow SMUResearch.com on Twitter.

For more information, www.smuresearch.com.

SMU is a nationally ranked private university in Dallas founded 100 years ago. Today, SMU enrolls nearly 11,000 students who benefit from the academic opportunities and international reach of seven degree-granting schools. For more information see www.smu.edu.

SMU has an uplink facility located on campus for live TV, radio, or online interviews. To speak with an SMU expert or book an SMU guest in the studio, call SMU News & Communications at 214-768-7650.

Tags Annette Caldwell Simmons School of Education & Human Development, Geoffrey Brown, Kenneth Clark, Laurence Ryan, Peter Weyand