The first day of the conference, Monday 27th July, will feature two optional pre-conference workshops. These can be booked during conference registration for an additional cost of £40 per workshop.
Lab-grade sprint biomechanics from video: bringing automated force, technique, and athlete profiling onto the pitch
11.00-13.00: Dr Dario Cazzola and Andrea Braschi
Sprinting mechanics underpin performance and injury risk across a wide range of team and individual sports, yet accurately assessing technique and mechanical loading at scale remains a major challenge outside the laboratory. Traditional biomechanical assessments are time-consuming, resource-intensive, and often limited to a small number of athletes, making it difficult to monitor whole squads or track meaningful changes over time. In this applied workshop, we will demonstrate how lab-grade sprint biomechanics can be obtained on the track using only slow-motion video captured with consumer devices (e.g. smartphones, tablets, action cameras). We will explain how state-of-the-art pose estimation, combined with physics-informed machine learning, enables the estimation of sprint mechanics and ground reaction forces directly from video, with key metrics delivered via cloud-based processing within minutes. We will then unpack the underlying workflow, including modelling choices, training datasets, validation strategies, and current limitations of video-based force and motion estimation. Finally, we will focus on translation to practice: how sprint metrics are selected, computed, and communicated, and how biomechanical insights can be turned into actionable feedback for coaches to support performance development and injury risk management.
High-density surface EMG analysis: insights into neural drive to muscle
13.30-15.30: Dr Jakob Škarabot
Understanding how the nervous system controls muscle force requires direct access to the neural signals underpinning muscle contraction. High-density surface electromyography (HDsEMG), recorded using two-dimensional multichannel electrode arrays makes this possible non-invasively, enabling the decomposition of surface EMG signals into the discharge patterns of individual motor units. This provides a reliable window into alpha motoneuron activity and, by extension, the neural drive to muscle during voluntary contractions. This workshop is designed for researchers and practitioners looking to develop practical skills in HDsEMG acquisition, decomposition, and the subsequent analysis of motor unit discharge behaviour. The objectives of this session are as follows: 1) to provide an overview of HDsEMG signal characteristics and the principles underpinning signal acquisition and decomposition, including best practices for reliable detection during voluntary contractions; 2) to explain the fundamentals of interpreting and analysing motor unit discharge patterns in order to draw meaningful physiological conclusions from decomposed data; and 3) to provide hands-on experience in processing motor unit spike trains, working directly with decomposed data.