Good Learning Co.
SavannahYear 8
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PESports science: how the body performs24 min★★★ difficulty

Movement mechanics: levers, force and technique

Technique is physics you can practise. Change where force is applied, or how long it acts, and the same athlete produces a very different result.

Part of your national curriculum
  • Technique and performance: Develop their technique and improve their performance in other competitive sports, such as athletics and gymnastics

Lesson overview

What you'll learn in this lesson

Develop their technique and improve their performance in other competitive sports, such as athletics and gymnastics

Key learning points

  • • The body as a system of levers
  • • Force, momentum and impulse
  • • Balance and stability
  • • Analysing and correcting technique

This lesson at a glance

  • 24 minutes
  • 16 parts to scroll through
  • 4 quick checks
  • Marked quiz at the end
  • Gentle pace: short sittings with pauses

Words to know

techniqueimproveperformancecompetitivesports

Scroll down — the lesson carries on below

Part 1 of 16 · Discover6%
1

Watch & discover

Part 1 of 16

Watch first

Movement mechanics: levers, force and technique

An English teaching video on this topic from TED-Ed. Watch it, then scroll down for the lesson.

In a nutshell

Develop their technique and improve their performance in other competitive sports, such as athletics and gymnastics

2

Learning cycle

Part 2 of 16

Learning cycle 1 of 2

Part 1 · The body as a system of levers

A short piece of teaching, then a check to make sure it has landed.

3

Explore the idea

Part 3 of 16

Learn

The body as a system of levers

Every lever has a fulcrum (joint), effort (muscle) and load. First class: fulcrum in the middle — nodding the head. Second class: load in the middle — rising onto the toes at the ankle, which gives a mechanical advantage and moves large loads. Third class: effort in the middle — the elbow in a biceps curl. Most body levers are third class: poor at lifting heavy loads, excellent at producing speed at the end of a long limb, which is why a longer arm can throw faster.

4

Explore the idea

Part 4 of 16

Learn

Force, momentum and impulse

A bigger force applied over a longer time changes momentum more — that is impulse. A sprinter's drive phase pushes hard and long against the blocks; a long jumper converts horizontal speed into a fast, well-angled take-off. The reverse also matters: bending the knees on landing, or drawing the hands back to catch a hard ball, spreads the impact over more time and reduces the peak force on joints.

5

Quick check

Part 5 of 16

Quick check

Rising onto the toes at the ankle joint is an example of which lever class?

6

Quick check

Part 6 of 16

Quick check

Bending the knees on landing reduces the force on the joints because it:

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Reset break

Part 7 of 16

Pause

That's sitting 1 of 2 done

Stretch, get a drink, look out of the window. There is no timer and nothing is counting down — your place is saved, so you can come back in five minutes or tomorrow.

Stop here for now
8

Learning cycle

Part 8 of 16

Learning cycle 2 of 2

Part 2 · Balance and stability

A short piece of teaching, then a check to make sure it has landed.

9

Explore the idea

Part 9 of 16

Learn

Balance and stability

Stability increases with a lower centre of mass, a wider base of support, and keeping the line of gravity inside that base. A rugby player braces low and wide before contact; a gymnast on the beam narrows the base deliberately and must control the line of gravity precisely. Losing balance is almost always the line of gravity leaving the base of support.

10

Explore the idea

Part 10 of 16

Learn

Analysing and correcting technique

Break a skill into preparation, execution and follow-through, then compare each phase with a model performer. Video is ideal because it slows the phases down. Correct one fault at a time, starting with the earliest phase — a poor preparation guarantees a poor execution however hard the athlete tries to fix the finish.

11

Quick check

Part 11 of 16

Quick check

Which change increases stability?

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Quick check

Part 12 of 16

Quick check

When correcting technique, you should usually fix faults:

13

Explore the idea

Part 13 of 16

Worked example

Worked analysis: a javelin-style overarm throw

Preparation — side-on stance, wide base, weight back: stability high and the throwing arm long. Execution — hips rotate first, then chest, then arm, so force builds through the body and acts over a long time (large impulse). The arm is a third class lever, so its length adds speed at the hand. Follow-through — the front leg blocks and the body decelerates over several steps, spreading the force. Fault to correct first: an early arm, before hip rotation, which loses most of the impulse.

14

Challenge round

Part 14 of 16

Game · Sort it

Which of these are true?

Drag each card into the right column. Tap a card first if dragging is fiddly.

True

Not true

15

Mastery quiz

Part 15 of 16

Marked quiz

End of lesson quiz: Movement mechanics: levers, force and technique

4 questions, marked with the reasoning shown. No timer.

  1. 1. Rising onto the toes at the ankle joint is an example of which lever class?

  2. 2. Bending the knees on landing reduces the force on the joints because it:

  3. 3. Which change increases stability?

  4. 4. When correcting technique, you should usually fix faults:

16

Lesson round-up

Part 16 of 16

Lesson round-up

Ready when you are

Quiz score

Not sat

Games

Not played

Points this lesson

0

Best run

0 in a row

Luna: 0 out of 4 on the practice checks. Only if you feel up to it — one more?

Ask Luna

Do the work

Your written work for this lesson

This is the part you'd do in your book at school. Pick the pieces below, write here or on paper, and photograph anything you draw or work out.

Article

What a warm-up is actually for

A warm-up raises the heart rate, sends more blood to the working muscles and raises muscle temperature by a couple of degrees. Warm muscle stretches further before it tears, and messages between brain and muscle travel faster, so movement is more accurate.

A good warm-up has three parts: a few minutes of easy movement, mobility that takes joints through the range the sport needs, and short bursts at close to game speed.

Long, still stretching before explosive sport can slow the muscle down. Save that kind of stretching for the cool-down.

Written for Good Learning Co.

Reading questions

  1. Explain in your own words two things a warm-up does to the body.
  2. Design a ten-minute warm-up for one sport, with times for each part.
  3. Keep a training log for three sessions: what you did, how long, and how you felt after.

  • Training log

    Writing

    Write what you did, for how long, and how your body felt afterwards.

    Half a page

Saved as you type.

Part 1 of 16 · Watch & discover

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    Develop their technique and improve their performance in other competitive sports, such as athletics and gymnastics

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