1 Motion Capture Looks at Human Movement A scientist places markers on an athlete’s body The markers look like small disks or marbles They mark joints and other key body parts The athlete goes through their motions Special cameras capture their body movements Computer software re creates the athlete as a figure on a screen This is motion capture Scientists called biomechanists study these figures They look for ways athletes can change the ways they move These changes may improve performance They may prevent injury Usually they do both Motion capture started in the late 1800s Étienne-Jules Marey was a French scientist He was also a chronophotographer This is a person who captures movement in still pictures Marey went one step further He captured all the motions 44
in one move like jumping on a single picture He designed a special high-speed camera to do this He was also the first scientist to use markers He placed reflective strips on a person wearing a black suit This helped him track the movement of joints and bones The movement of pole vaulting photographed by Étienne-Jules Marey 12 Images per second Marey’s camera captured Scientists first started capturing human motion in the 1800s Early motion capture studied general movement Motion capture helps athletes train better faster and with less injury Marey’s work helped scientists understand how the human body moved in general Now scientists can look at an individual athlete’s movements They help athletes learn faster and perform better Motion capture is moving into a new era It is being applied to just about every sport It is no longer used only by elite athletes Recreational athletes can see and improve their golf swing baseball pitch or other movement 55
2 Helmets Evolve and Protect A player in the 1893 Army-Navy football game wore the first football helmet His shoemaker made a hat with earflaps The material was moleskin a heavy cotton fabric Other players wore similar soft leather helmets during the early 1900s In the 1920s hardened leather helmets added some protection The newer helmets were rounded This helped direct blows away from the head In 1939 John T Riddell invented the plastic football helmet He added a chin strap and face mask In the 1940s the NFL National Football League started making players wear helmets The helmets had flaws though The plastic broke easily The pieces were sharp and could cause injury Before long helmets used better materials They also had padding Metal bars helped protect the face In the 1970s helmets had full face masks and thick foam padding Other Football players wearing hardened leather helmets in 1920 6
LODE SHELL CORE LAYER ARCH SHELL FORM LINER The Vicis Zero1 ranked highest for safety in 2018 sports started making their players wear helmets too NFL quarterbacks started wearing radio receivers inside their helmets in 1995 This let them hear the coaches call plays It helped speed up the game Helmets protect against skull fractures and face injuries They are evolving to prevent concussions too A concussion is a type of brain injury caused by blows to the head Its effects can linger for years Weight in pounds 1 4 kg of an average NFL helmet in the 1980s TURNING HITS INTO ART In the 1960s a puck hit NHL National Hockey League goalie Gerry Cheevers's face mask Cheevers retreated to the bench Before returning to the ice Cheevers drew stitches where the puck had hit He went on to add a stitch each time a puck hit his mask Today many athletes have works of art painted on their helmets Originally helmets were made of leather and canvas The first plastic helmet was created in 1939 Helmets protect athletes from head and face injuries
