Dr Paul Worsfold

Senior Lecturer Sports Biomechanics and Performance Analysis

Qualifications

BSc (Hons), PGCTLHE, PhD

Overview

Paul is Area Leader for Biomechanics and Performance Analysis and has provided biomechanical and performance analysis research and support for a wide range of elite sport teams and individuals including Olympic squads, professional football, hockey and rugby clubs.
He is currently an adviser to Liverpool Football Club Academy and consultant for the English Institute of Sport (Performance Analysis), The Rugby Football Union and Callaway Golf Company. Paul is Editor for the Sport and Exercise Science section of Chester Research Online and an external examiner for the University of Derby, Buxton (Sports Development 2007) and Bournemouth University (MSc Advanced Professional Practice Sports & Rehabilitation 2009).
Paul is a level 7 accredited performance analyst (International Society of Performance Analysis of Sport) and a member of the International Foot and Ankle Biomechanics Community, International Society of Performance Analysis and BASES. Paul has also acted as an expert biomechanical witness for two US legal cases involving sporting equipment design.

Teaching

Paul's specialist areas are Sports Biomechanics and Performance Analysis and he teaches on the following undergraduate and postgraduate modules:

Introduction to Biomechanics and Kinesiology (Level 4)
Sports Biomechanics and Notational Analysis in Sport (Level 5)

Research Methods in Sport and Exercise Sciences (Levels 4, 5 & 6)

Applied Biomechanics (Level 6)

Applied Performance Analysis (Level 6)

Contemporary Issues in sports biomechanics (Level M)
Measurement issues in sports biomechanics (Level M)
Applied sports biomechanics (Level M)
Contemporary issues in performance analysis (Level M)
Applied performance analysis (Level M)
Measurement issues in performance analysis (Level M)

Paul also supervises dissertation students at level 6 and masters level.

Research

Research Interest

Sports equipment and footwear design
Biomechanics of soccer, rugby, cycling and golf
The Application of Performance Analysis in Sport
The use of GPS in sport
Talent identification

Research Income

£79,470	(2012-2015) Rugby Football Union. Talent identification and progression within elite English rugby.
£15,000	(2012) Angling Development Board. Scientific evaluation of the demands of elite British angling.
£51,300	(2010-2013) Gladstone bursary. Joint collaborative research study with the English Rugby Football Union and the English Institute of Sport.
£5,000	(2008-2009) University of Chester. An investigation into lower limb muscle activation during the Golf Swing

PhD Supervision

Grace Smith - Foot function in relation to sports performance
Robert Connell - The biomechanical analysis of upper-extremity plyometrics
Mark Waldron - The use of performance analysis within coaching in sport
Nicola Cahill - The demands of training and playing in elite rugby union

Published work

Selected Publications

Worsfold, P.R., (2011); Invited Review: The golf shoe, the past, present and future. Journal of Footwear Science 3(3) 139-150.

Waldron, M., Worsfold, P.R., White, C. & Murray, S. (2011). Swarming behaviour in elite race bunch cycling: a case study. International Journal of Performance Analysis of Sport. 11(1), 14-25.

Waldron, M., Worsfold, P.R., Twist, C., Lamb, K. (2011). Concurrent validity and test re-test reliability of a Global Positioning System (GPS) and timing gates to assess sprint performance variables. Journal of Sports Sciences. (October 2011 iFirst article) 1-7.

Worsfold, P.R., Smith, N., & Dyson, R., (2009). Kinetic assessment of golf shoe outer sole design features. Journal of Sports Science and Medicine 8, 607-615.

Worsfold, P.R., & Macbeth, K., (2009). The reliability of television broadcasting statistics in soccer. International Journal of Performance Analysis of Sport 9, 344-353.

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