Here are some basic ideas to think about and possibly discuss about movement patterns. Generally you want to be able to understand the "ideal" movement and then compare the actual movement to the ideal taking into account individual differences. This will give you clues to what is working effectively and efficiently and what is not. This will also allow a measurement of progress toward improvement however that may be defined. There are three sources of information you may use: 1) reports from others in the form of research articles, textbooks, blogs, stories, and so on; 2) observing others doing the movement, with or without recording equipment; 3) experiencing it yourself. If you were to find research on a movement, you would probably find information pertaining to only major portions of the body involved with an exercise. For example, if you researched "push up," you would find information mostly about the shoulders and some information about core stability during the push up. This is fine to get you started, but will not help you analyze the rest of the body during movement. Besides, some movements won't have any research or articles available, like turning a key to open a door or ladling soup to feed your family. Any movement is easy to analyze when separated into smaller parts. There are at least two ways to "chunk down" the information to workable sizes. The first way is to examine one body region at a time, for example shoulder girdle then shoulder joint then elbow and so on. This process goes quickly for some regions while others may take time to be thorough. The second way is to isolate movement phases and investigate each one. Looking at the gait cycle (how one walks) is an excellent example of using phases to chunk down and describe the movement.A. Describe Motor Skill (movement under study)

1. What is the exercise or movement pattern being analyzed?

a. What is the goal of the movement? Why is it being done?

b. What category of skills does the movement belong?

c. Who can/cannot perform the movement?

d. When/where is this movement performed?

2. What standards are used to evaluate movement performance?

a. What determines if the movement is successful?

b. Is improvement over time (in some way) important?

c. Can the criteria be changed? i.e. from speed to accuracy

3. What are the movement phases during performance?

a. How are they arranged?

1. Sequence

2. Concurrent or simultaneous

3. Once or in a cycle?

a. New phases through entire cycle

b. New phase for first half then reversed for second half

b. What marks the change in a phase?

c. Are the beginning and ending positions the same?

1. End in the same position as when began?

2. Is the start position always the same?

4. Does the movement precede or follow a different movement?

a. What comes before

b. What comes after

5. Which kinesiology principles are most involved?

a. ROM

b. Strength

c. Mobility/Stability

d. and so on B. Anatomical/Physiological Analysis (for each phase, ideal conditions)

1. What are the joint and body segment positions for each phase?

a. Where in space are they?

b. How do they relate to other joints and segments?

2. How are the muscles participating during each phase?

a. Which muscles are concentrically contracting (create movement)?

b. Which muscles are eccentrically contracting (control movement)?

c. Which muscles are synergists (guide movement)?

d. Which muscles are stabilizing (allow movement)?

e. Which muscles are neutralizing (prevent movement)?

3. What other structures should be considered?

a. Joints

b. Joint capsules

c. Ligaments

d. Other What conditions could cause improper or unsafe movement?

a. Common joint issues

b. Common ligament issues

c. Common muscle issues

d. Other common issues

C. Mechanical Analysis (for each phase, ideal conditions)

1. What type of mechanical advantage, if any, is used?

a. To balance forces

b. To enhance force

c. To enhance range of motion and speed of movement

d. To alter the resulting direction of the applied force

2. Which of Newton's laws of motion are relevant? How?

3. How is balance, equilibrium, and stability achieved during the movement?

4. What types of forces may impede the desired motion?

a. Friction

b. Mass

c. Momentum

d. and so on...

5. What types of forces may aid the desired motion?

a. Friction

b. Mass

c. Momentum

d. and so on...

 D. Variations Analysis

1. In what ways could the movement be changed?

a. To be more easy

b. To be more difficult

c. To adapt for injury or disease

2. How does changing any component affect the movement as a whole?

3. How does adding competition change the movement?