The conference programme features a range of applied sessions, across national governing performance centres, commercial organisations, research labs, and classrooms. Delegates will be asked to indicate their preference for applied sessions when registering for the conference. Applied session topics are listed below:
Finding the edge: Like in all sport there is a constant balancing act between research and practice – aimed at driving meaningful change and improving performance. This practical session will explore how UK Athletics is looking to pave the way in integrating research and practice in a way never available before, with state of art research capabilities integrated directly into the training environment. Lead by Nils Bogaard (UK Athletics Lead Biomechanist) and David Barbour (UK Athletics Applied Biomechanist and Loughborough PhD student) the practical in the High Performance Athletics Centre will involve collecting data using their system – integrating force plates (and force blocks), highspeed cameras, opto-jump, and speed lasers to highlight the immediate impact research can have on critical decision making within and beyond a session. Following on from hands on data collection (bring your runners – or spikes if you are feeling quick) the discussion will open up to explore how research can enrich feedback to athletes and coaches and have lasting performance impacts for future generations.
This session will explore how the knowledge gained from biomechanics research can be used in elite level coaching and injury prevention strategies.
Stefan Ljutzkanov (Co-founder at Badmintoo.com; PhD Researcher, Loughborough University)
Stefan is an ex-professional badminton coach who transitioned into coach development, and a PhD researcher at Loughborough University. A former national and Balkan champion who started his coaching journey at the age of 16, he has led elite and national development programmes across Bulgaria, Denmark and Germany. Part of his research focuses on bridging the gap between academic knowledge and practical application in badminton coaching and player development.
Yi Zhong (PhD candidate in Sports Biomechanics at Loughborough University, member of Loughborough University Performance Team)
Yi is a former competitive badminton player from China. His research focuses on the biomechanics of the badminton smash. His work seeks to translate biomechanical evidence into practical applications for coaches and athletes, supporting evidence-based training and performance enhancement in elite badminton.
Prof Mark King – Professor of Sports Biomechanics, Loughborough University
Mark has investigated maximising performance and minimising injury risk in a variety of sports along with how to apply the findings in both elite level sport but also to all via smart phone technologies (Dineticq Ltd).
The session will provide an overview of the Vestibular/Ocular Motor Screening (VOMS) assessment, a widely used clinical tool for identifying vestibular and oculomotor impairments following concussion. Participants will be guided through the key components of the assessment through practical demonstrations and discussion of its clinical application. Drawing on Dr Kerry Glendon‘s published research into sport-related concussion, including the assessment of vestibular-ocular-motor function, concussion recovery, and return-to-play outcomes in student-athletes, the session will explore the role of VOMS within contemporary concussion management. Current developments in camera-based eye-tracking and virtual reality technologies will also be reviewed, highlighting their potential to provide objective measures of visual and vestibular function alongside established clinical assessment methods.
This panel discussion will explore how biomechanics is used in injury prevention strategies in cricket, using examples from England, Australia and India. The session will consist of a short presentations from each panel member, followed by a round table discussion with questions from the audience welcomed.
Prof Mark King – Professor of Sports Biomechanics, Loughborough University
Mark has investigated maximising performance and minimising injury risk in a variety of sports along with how to apply the findings in both elite level sport but also to all via smart phone technologies (Dineticq Ltd).
Dr Pete Alway (Lead Sports Scientist: Health and Performance, England & Wales Cricket Board)
Pete is the Lead Sports Scientist: Health and Performance at the England and Wales Cricket Board, and Visiting Fellow at Loughborough University where he completed his PhD in injury Science. His research focuses on musculoskeletal health in elite fast bowlers, exploring the biomechanical, physiological and epidemiological factors that contribute to injury and performance, and the translation of this knowledge to inform practitioner decision making and whole-game governance.
Dr Libby Pickering Rodriguez
Libby is a Senior Lecturer in the Discipline of Sport and Exercise at the University of Technology Sydney. In collaboration with industry partners such as Cricket New South Wales, Libby has led research projects investigating fast bowling in elite male and female cricketers. She provides expert biomechanics consultation to explore injury, return-to-play and load management strategies for elite bowlers with the aim of translating scientific evidence into practical applications for coaches, athletes, and practitioners.
Dr Sai Aditya is a Sports Medicine Physician, currently Assistant Professor & Consultant at the Sri Ramachandra Centre for Sports Science, Sri Ramachandra Institute of Higher Education & Research, Chennai, India. Sai’s areas of research foci are fast bowling biomechanics and sports injury prevention. He has worked on projects with state cricket associations & national fast bowlers in this regard and is also a part of the ICC bowling legality assessment group. He has also worked as team doctor with Chennaiyin FC Football Club and other professional sports clubs.
This session will focus on female fast bowling, showing how laboratory grade analysis can be used to help female fast bowlers maximise performance and minimise injury risk with a science led approach.
Hannah Jowitt is the Performance Analysis Lead and Biomechanist at Aquatics GB, having previously worked at the England and Wales Cricket Board. Hannah is currently finishing her PhD with Loughborough University, exploring the biomechanics of elite female fast bowlers within cricket.
Dr Paul Felton is a Senior Lecturer in Biomechanics at Nottingham Trent University, and founder of The Cricket Biomechanist, a consultancy specialising in applied cricket movement science and coach development. His research focuses on exploring constraints which affect movement solutions and how this impacts performance and injury outcomes, while his practice focuses on the translation of this knowledge into practical coaching, player development and practitioner decision making.
Prof Mark King – Professor of Sports Biomechanics, Loughborough University
Mark has investigated maximising performance and minimising injury risk in a variety of sports along with how to apply the findings in both elite level sport but also to all via smart phone technologies (Dineticq Ltd).
This applied session will showcase how the PING Performance Research Centre (PRC) uses advanced technologies, including their FOCAL motion capture system and Zen Green Stage, to better understand golfer performance. Attendees will see how they collect, integrate, and analyse club, body, force plate, and ball flight data in both research and applied environments.
Using real-world examples, they will demonstrate how these data are transformed into athlete servicing reports for players and coaches, while also supporting equipment fitting, product development, and ongoing performance research. The session will highlight how scientific measurement can be translated into practical insights that improve both the golfer and the equipment they use.
The Coaching Biomechanic interface: Making biomechanics impactful, coach led, athlete centred and research informed.
Bridging the gap between the underlying biomechanics that determine successful performance and the provision of meaningful information for coaches has challenged sports biomechanists for decades. This unique session showcases research conducted in real-world settings, following gymnasts as they prepare for World and Olympic-level performance. The talk will include leading expertise in their fields from fundamental research to coaching and applied practice.
Professor Gareth Irwin (Cardiff Metropolitan University) will set the scene with a discussion around a framework that can be used alongside and integrated within the classic biomechanical approaches, and how output from coach biomechanist interactions can be presented for use in elite coaching and coach education situations.
Paul Hall (British Gymnastics) the former Great Britain performance director and first GB national coach to achieve Olympic medal success, will discuss the use of sport science in his preparation and development of Olympic gymnasts and elite development squads. He will explore how he uses and drives the research agenda though clear communication and a values driven approach.
Beccy Straker (UK Sports Institute) the GB Gymnastics Biomechanist, will explain the interface between the coaches and gymnasts on the ground and the development of scientifically research driven solutions to questions that emerge.
Dr Mike Hiley (Loughborough University) will present on research that brings together coaching driven questions specifically around technique selection, and addresses this with an athletic centred, research driven framework. The specific skills that Dr Hiley will explore include the fledge to backward somersaults, integrating experimental and theoretical approaches.
Force–Velocity Profiling in Wheelchair Athletes: From Laboratory Assessment to Performance Application
With extensive experience as a performance scientist and strength and conditioning practitioner across the Tokyo and Paris Paralympic cycles, Dr Tom O’Brien‘s work focuses on understanding and enhancing performance in wheelchair court sports through applied biomechanics and physiology. This practical session, hosted in the Peter Harrison Laboratory, will demonstrate force-velocity profiling using a wheelchair ergometer. Attendees will observe a live assessment, explore complementary laboratory and field-based approaches to athlete profiling, and discuss how force-velocity characteristics can be interpreted to inform targeted training interventions aimed at optimising force production, velocity expression, and wheelchair sprint performance.
The session will be run by Dr Sam Allen, an academic within the Sport Biomechanics research group at Loughborough University. This will involve a demonstration of the collection of running kinematic and kinetic data using markerless motion capture combined with an instrumented treadmill. Following this some example case studies will be presented using data recently collected from a Triathlon Performance squad.
Hannah Jowitt (Performance Analysis Lead & Biomechanist, Aquatics GB) and Jiaxin (Jessie) Li (PhD researcher in Sport Biomechanics at Loughborough University) will be demonstrating how Aquatics GB utilise biomechanics on a daily basis within the applied setting of the swimming pool, working alongside a multi-disciplinary team to assess performance, and determine the optimal technical interventions to put in place.
Michael Shaw (National Tennis Academy Biomechanist) will lead this session showing how Loughborough University’s tennis biomechanics research is applied directly with the National Tennis Academy, the University’s performance players and Britain’s top professionals at the National Tennis Centre. A player will serve on court and their biomechanical report will be presented to show how their serve technique and physical factors could be developed to improve performance and reduce injury risk. Further case studies will highlight player progress and the impact of this research on performance support. Tom Kisiel (Head of Performance Tennis, Loughborough University) will share how biomechanical serve analysis has been incorporated into their programmes. Prof. Mark King (Professor of Sports Biomechanics, Loughborough University) / Dr Anna Fitzpatrick (Lecturer in Performance Analysis and Skill Acquisition) will close out the session by talking through the research-application-feedback cycle and how the team is connecting with tennis communities to help the sport improve through science.
Panel Discussion: Insights from elite sport – turning measurement info meaningful performance impact
Ben Young (British Gymnastics Senior Strength and Conditioning Coach)
Cat Shin (UK Sports Institute Human Performance Consultant – Biomechanics)
Dan Williams (GB Cycling Team Biomechanist)
Nils Bogaard (UK Athletics Lead Biomechanist)
Chair: Caroline Adams (UK Sports Institute Performance & Innovation Consultant)
In elite sport, the value of biomechanics isn’t defined by the sophistication of the measurement—but by its impact on performance. This practitioner-led panel brings together experts working in elite Paralympic and Olympic sport to explore how biomechanical insights are translated into clear, practical actions that athletes and coaches can use every day. Through honest discussion and real-world examples, panellists will share how they prioritise meaningful data, communicate effectively across different audiences, and balance precision with practicality. Designed to spark reflection for anyone looking to collaborate with or work in elite sport, this session will explore the skills, mindset, and judgement needed to turn knowledge into meaningful performance impact.