Biomechanics is defined as “the application of mechanical principles to living organisms” (Innocenti, 2018). This is useful as to be a canine therapist, I need to understand how and why animals move in certain ways. This module included gaits, GRF (ground reaction force), Newtons Laws, and locomotion which is all relevant for a career in canine therapy. This module has given me a solid grounding for when I continue my studies into biomechanics in future years at university.
For our ‘describing movement’ assessment as part of this module, I chose to focus on the greyhound as I felt this would improve my knowledge on the content we learnt in class. There is lots of research on greyhounds as they often retire from racing due to injuries and their gaits are analysed. Being the fastest dog breed (Hayati, Eager and Walker, 2019), they are often compared to cheetahs (Hudson, Corr and Wilson, 2012), and I found this research specifically interesting.
This was my first assignment and I found it difficult to find relevant research without having to spend hours reading through journals. In these journals, it was challenging to find the right information that I needed for this assignment as they were very long however it was interesting reading through them. I felt more confident with the assignment than the exam as I have always been better at coursework. I should’ve started revising earlier for the exam as I procrastinated which is one skill I know I need to work on.
Looking back, I would have given myself more time to do the research and plan my assignment before starting it as I had a very small rough plan originally. Doing this would have caused me less stress which would have overall allowed me to produce a more detailed assignment. I realised after that I left it quite late to do my assignment and panicked at the last-minute, worrying that I might not hand it in for the deadline. Studies have shown that students that hand in assessments at the last-minute drop 5% of marks (Arnott and Dacko, 2014). This study proved useful as for future exams and assignments, I will try not to procrastinate and will start earlier.
Reference List:
Arnott, D. and Dacko, S. (2014). Students take note: Evidence that leaving essays to the last- minute ruins your grades. [online] ScienceDaily. Available at: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/09/140909144542.htm.
Hayati, H., Eager, D. and Walker, P. (2019). The effects of surface compliance on greyhound galloping dynamics. Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part K: Journal of Multi-body Dynamics, 233(4), pp.1033–1043. doi:10.1177/1464419319858544
Hudson, P.E., Corr, S.A. and Wilson, A.M. (2012). High speed galloping in the cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus) and the racing greyhound (Canis familiaris): spatio-temporal and kinetic characteristics. Journal of Experimental Biology, 215(14), pp.2425–2434. doi:10.1242/jeb.066720.
Innocenti, B. (2018). Biomechanics: a fundamental tool with a long history (and even longer future!). Muscles, Ligaments and Tendons Journal, [online] 7(4), pp.491–492. doi:10.11138/mltj/2017.7.4.491.