Metodi innovativi di analisi dei movimenti sportivi

In recent years, concepts and tools from dynamical systems theory have been successfully applied to the study of movement systems, contradicting traditional views of variability as noise or error. It is apparent that variability in movement systems is omnipresent and unavoidable due to the distinct constraints that shape each individual behaviour. In this work, it is argued that trial-to-trial movement variations within individuals, and performance differences observed between individuals may be best interpreted as attempts to exploit the variability that is inherent biological systems. That is, variability in movement systems helps individuals adapt to the unique constraints (personal, task and environmental) impinging on them across different timescales. Here is examined the implications of these ideas for sports performance, by: (a) interpreting different constraints on individual coordination strategy in physical performance and (b) focusing on variability in performance control and skill acquisition in athletes. The implementation of a dynamical systems theoretical interpretation of variability in movement systems signals a need to re-evaluate the traditional ‘medical model’ that interprets motor behaviour and performance constrained by disease or injury to the movement system. Accordingly, there is a need to exploit new tools for providing individualised plots of motor behaviour and performance as a function of key constraints. Coordination profiling is proposed as one such alternative approach to assess each unique performance. The approach taken is that the control of multiple degrees-of-freedom systems is not necessarily more difficult or complex than that of systems only comprising a few degrees of freedom, with the conclusion that dynamical systems theory provides an appropriate multidisciplinary theoretical framework to explain their interaction in supporting physical performance. From this perspective the use of new technology as 3D stereophotogrammetry can help scientists to understand the intrinsic dynamics of sport movements. 6