Sports Technology and Biomechanics at the US Olympic Training Center in California

Dr. Phil Cheetham is the senior sport technologist and biomechanist for the United States Olympic Committee.  He works primarily with track and field at the Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista, near San Diego.  Other sports he works with include trampoline, golf, rugby and field hockey.  The resident track and field athletes at the training center are mainly jumpers (long, triple and high) and throwers (discus, hammer, shot put and javelin).  On a regular basis during the training season Phil employs technology and biomechanical methods to help improve the coach’s knowledge and athlete's performance.  At the training center he uses several technologies such as Optojump, Quattro Jump, Velocity Laser, Rotational Inertial Sensors and 3D Electromagnetic Motion Analysis Technology.  These technologies help quantify the performance of the athletes.  Examples of their uses were outlined in the presentation.

Biography

Dr. Cheetham's main interest and career path is the practical application of sport science and technology to improve athletic performance; with particular interest in the use of 3D Motion Analysis and Biomechanics methods. Phil has an Electrical Engineering Degree from the University of NSW and both his Master's Degree and PhD from Arizona State University in the field of Exercise Science, specifically Biomechanics. His research interests are in the 3D Biomechanics of the Golf swing. While an owner of Advanced Motion Measurement, Inc., Phil developed the AMM3D Golf Swing Analysis System, which captures the motion of the body and club in real-time. This system has captured and analysed the swings of many of the world’s best golfers and is used by the Titleist Performance Institute in Oceanside, California. Phil, himself an athlete, is an Olympian in gymnastics and was on the Australian Team in both Montreal, 1976 and Moscow, 1980.  He was also a three time All-Around Australian Champion in gymnastics. Other related sports he competed in include diving, tumbling and trampoline.