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Sports science and sports medicine is playing a vital role in keeping athletes in peak condition and the impact of biomechanics and skill acquisition to elite sport is increasingly evident. To cope with the needs of local sports professionals, the Hong Kong Sports Institute (HKSI) organised the annual International Scientific Symposium on 16-17 April 2010 with the theme: “Biomechanics and skill acquisition in sports: performance enhancement and injury prevention”.

The 2-day symposium attracted over 200 local and international sports scientists, sports administrators, coaches and athletes to attend.

Dr Trisha Leahy, Chief Executive of the HKSI, said, “The Symposium acts as a platform for the participants to exchange and share the latest knowledge in biomechanics, especially get an invaluable chance to glimpse the current application of sport biomechanics in Beijing, Hong Kong, Shanghai and the United Kingdom (UK).”

Six renowned experts from the UK, Mainland China and Hong Kong gave out a total of seven keynote presentations and a workshop on their respective expert areas, providing a good platform for all attendants to share their knowledge and experience in using biomechanics to enhance elite performance and prevent sports injury.

Dr Valery Kleshnev, Rowing Science Consultant and Managing Director of Biorow Ltd., shared with the audience on two topics – “Application of biomechanics in elite sports: using rowing as an example” and “Introduction of practical measurement and result evaluation in sport biomechanics”.

Dr Wang Xiangdong, Associate Researcher Professor of the China Institute of Sport Science, shared his insights on how sport biomechanics can assist China weightlifting and shooting teams in the daily training and further strengthen their performance at Major Games through the topic: “Current application of sport biomechanics in Beijing”. 

Professor Xin Dingliang, Full Researcher Professor of the Shanghai Research Institute of Sport Science, spoke on the topic: “Current application of sport biomechanics in Shanghai”. According to Professor Xin, the current application of sport biomechanics in competitive sports can be divided into three levels: fundamental, intermediate and advanced services. At present, the major sport biomechanics services provided in Mainland China are at the fundamental and intermediate levels. Professor Xin also covered some examples of biomechanics application in competitive sports such as motion analysis on Liu Xiang and Zhu Jianhua, as well as research on swimsuits performance.

Professor Chan Kai-ming, Past President of the Asian Federation of Sports Medicine, shared his experience with the attendees on the growing global trend to engage sports biomechanics with innovation and technology in the application for sports performance through the topic: “Sports biomechanics – a dual dimension of innovation”. Professor Chan is currently the Chair Professor and Chief of Service at the Department of Orthopaedics and Traumatology, Prince of Wales Hospital, The Chinese University of Hong Kong.

Cheung Pak-ming, Sport Biomechanist of the HKSI, spoke on the topic of “Current application of sport biomechanics in Hong Kong”. To participate in the Beijing 2008Olympic Games as the goal of its training cycle, the HKSI Sport Biomechanics Department explored in-depth how to provide the best support to elite athletes. The presentation mentioned service provided and their application in practice in different sports including cycling and table tennis.

Professor Fong Tik-pui, Research Assistant Professor, Department of Orthopaedics and Traumatology, Prince of Wales Hospital, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, exchanged with the participants how sport biomechanics analysis can help identify the causes and understand the mechanism of the majority of sport-related injuries, thus provides a clue to design measures to prevent the injury on the topic: “Sport biomechanics for preventing sports injury”.

The annual Symposium ended successfully with a workshop of “Biomechanical assessment of body movement in sport” presented by representatives of the HKSI Sport Biomechanics Department.

This year, the Symposium is co-organised by the Hong Kong Jockey Club Sports Medicine and Health Sciences Centre, the WHO Collaborating Centre for Sports Medicine and Health Promotion, the Asian Federation of Sports Medicine as well as the Hong Kong Association of Sports Medicine and Sports Science.