High-tech study of football training

YOUNG footballers are to have their movements captured with the same high-tech motion analysis used to create top selling computer games as part of a ground-breaking research project at a Scottish university into the effects of intensive training on bone growth.

The footballers, aged between 12 and 14, are being recruited from teams in Tayside and Fife by Dundee University.

The team at the university's Institute of Motion Analysis and Research (IMAR) plan to use the same 3D motion capture techniques used to make computer sports games featuring stars such as Tiger Woods and Wayne Rooney to help monitor bone development in young players.

IMAR director Professor Rami Abboud said: "Although football is a major global sport, there is a significant weakness in the scientific literature as to whether targeted training and many hours of practice are actually beneficial to growing individuals.

"The limited knowledge is extremely worrying with respect to the short- and long-term welfare of young footballers."

The research is being carried out in association with the university's renowned Centre for Anatomy and Human Identification (CAHID), which recently featured in the major BBC2 series History Cold Case.

Prof Abboud said the combination of IMAR's expertise in motion analysis and biomechanical and musculoskeletal medicine and CAHID's excellence in osteological and anatomical research would generate invaluable evidence, helping to bridge a gap in scientific knowledge.

He added: "Understanding the long-term growth and development of individuals could significantly influence school curricular activities and professional training regime policies.

"Therefore this research has the potential to improve the overall health of our future society."

The researchers are seeking around 20 volunteers for the study.