Q.In the sprinting events, there is a need to have an efficient start. Look at the different types of start used by the sprinters in short-distance track events, read the content given, and discuss in your group:

• Identify different types of start in the short sprints.
• Why do different athletes use specific techniques?
• What are the scientific bases for specific techniques?
• Which technique is the best according to you and why?
• What are the kinesiological and biomechanical advantages of different techniques?

Kinesiology comes from the Greek words kinesis (movement) and logos (to study/discourse) — literally, the study of movement. It is the scholarly study of human movement and muscular function, drawing on biomechanics, anatomy, physiology and neuroscience, and views the human body as a machine that functions in a purposeful way. Because it addresses physiological, mechanical and psychological mechanisms together, kinesiology (also called human kinetics) is applied across strength and coordination training, sports psychology, physical and occupational therapy, and sport and exercise generally.

Scholars have defined kinesiology in slightly different but complementary ways. One definition states that kinesiology refers to the whole scholarly area of human movement study, while biomechanics — one of its many sub-disciplines — is specifically the study of motion and its causes in living things. Rasch and Burke (1978) trace the word to the Greek Kinesin (to move) and logos (to discourse); Burke (1977) frames it as the study of the movement behaviour of all living organisms. Aristotle (384-322 BC) is regarded as the 'father of kinesiology' for being the first to analyse and describe the complex process of walking, and for concepts of leverage, gravity and motion that anticipated Newton's later laws. …