Students from high schools across the Bay of Plenty were treated to the wonders of biomechanics as part of National Biomechanics Day.

The University of Waikato Adams Centre for High Performance hosted the event yesterday, which involved students visiting different stations to learn about biomechanics and relation to sport.

University of Waikato senior lecturer Dr Kim Hebert-Losier says the idea of a National Biomechanics Day originally began in the United States.

'It's a day to celebrate the study of forces and movements on living structures, like humans, which is our particular focus at the Adams Centre.”

She ran the station on 3D motion capture technology, and how it can help enhance performance and reduce injury risk in athletes. Through the use of infrared cameras reacting with markers placed on a runner's body, a 3D image of their running style can be recorded on a computer, for later analysis.

The same technology can also be used to improve your golf swing, or track the trajectory of a rugby ball.

Kim says they ran the station 12 times, with 10-15 high school students at each session.

'In total we had around 150 people come through the Centre today to experience biomechanics.”

Other stations focused on screening for injury risk in sport, force, 2D motion capture, and performance analysis in rugby.

'This is the first year it's being run in New Zealand, which is quite big for us,” she says.

'We've received really good feedback from students and teachers, and we've been asked already if we're doing it again next year. So there's a lot of interest.”