Dr Ashley Williams

Contact info

a.williams@abertay.ac.uk

01382 308683

Biography

I am Subject Lead for the newly launched MSc Sports Therapy, accredited by The Society of Sports Therapists, and I contribute to teaching on both the postgraduate MSc Sports Therapy and the undergraduate BSc (Hons) Sport and Exercise Science, endorsed by CASES. I am a CASES accredited Sport and Exercise Scientist and an associate member of The Society of Sports Therapists.

My research focuses on novel injury prevention strategies and their effect on biomechanical and physiological markers of injury risk. I am currently working on reconceptualising the role of fatigue, specifically examining how muscle oxygenation status influences kinematics. I also have a research interest in improving golf performance and health.

Prior to joining Abertay I lectured at Buckinghamshire New University and the University of Hertfordshire, alongside practising Sports Therapy in rugby. I completed my PhD in Biomechanics, focusing on the kinematics of the golf ball during a putt.

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Teaching
Research

In addition to my role as Subject Lead for MSc Sports Therapy I module and contribute to the following modules.

Module Leader for:

Level 10 - Biomechanics and Injury Prevention

Level 11 - Functional Anatomy and Human Movement

Level 11 - Strategies for Injury Prevention

Additional teaching contributions include research methods in performance analysis and biomechanics.

Interests

My research interests include but are not limited to:

Novel methods of injury prevention on biomechanical and physiological measures

Can novel interventions improve joint kinematics and kinetics during high-risk activities reducing the risk of injury. This includes utilisation of 3D motion analysis, electromyography and near infrared spectrometry.

Lower limb kinetics/kinematics:

In relation to biomechanical risk factors of lower limb injury. Can athletes at risk be identified before the injury occurs? So a prevention protocol can be implemented reducing the identified risk factor. Additionally, how lower limb kinetics and kinematics change throughout fatigue and interventions to overcome this.

Biomechanical factors related to sports performance:

I have an interest in quantifying how different biomechanical factors influence sports performance. An example of this is how different golf putter parameters influence the initial direction of the ball roll, whereby, the face angle, putter path and impact point all have an influence but to what degree?

Movement variability influencing sport technique:

A recent development within sports biomechanics is the dynamical systems theory, which outlines how variability and patterns of variability affect movement, performance and injury risk.

These interests can be tailored to all levels of research included Masters by research and PhD. If you are interested in discussing potential research ideas please contact me via email at A.Williams@Abertay.ac.uk.

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