Centre for Applied Sports Science & Medicine

The Youth Physical Development Research Group brings together a large group of researchers, coaches and postgraduate students to produce high-quality research that examines long-term athletic development in children and adolescents.

It focuses on three research and innovation areas:

• Examining and improving physical fitness
• Reducing the risk of injury
• Improving health and wellbeing

The research group works alongside the Youth Physical Development Centre, which offers after-school strength and conditioning support, with approximately 200 children who are involved in youth sports or simply looking to improve their health and fitness.

With 12 members of academic staff, additional technical staff and postgraduate research students, the Sports Performance Analysis Research Group is the largest of its kind in the UK.

The research interests of the group include:

• the analysis of injury risk
• decision making, momentum, technique analysis
• tactics and work-rate analysis
• effectiveness of performance analysis support in practice
• performance analysis in media and judging contexts
• measurement issues in sports performance
• professional practice in sports performance analysis

The group offers opportunities for undergraduate students on the BSc (Hons) Sport Performance Analysis degree to gain practical, real-world experience.

Outside of Cardiff Met, the group provides a range of consultancy services for local sports teams looking to improve their performance. Please contact Dr Gemma Robinson to find out more.

Members of the group are also on the editorial board of the International Journal of Sports

Performance Analysis, with Dr Gemma Robinson recently appointed as Associate Editor. 

The High Performance Sport Science Research and Innovation Group comprises researchers, practitioners and postgraduate students from a diverse range of sport disciplines, including physiology, biomechanics and psychology.

The group aims to improve how athletes train and perform in elite sports, both at Cardiff Met and around the world.

This world-leading facility houses five computer labs equipped with high-performance PC and Mac systems with advanced video editing tools.

The Cyncoed campus also includes an indoor and outdoor IP camera network that captures athletes in motion, offering a closer look at their performance. Controlled in the lab by students, this intricate camera network is rare among sporting organisations and even rarer among universities.  

Consisting of two teaching labs equipped for sport-specific assessments – including running, cycling, swimming and rowing – this lab provide hands-on experience with specialist sports science equipment to enhance practical learning.

This cutting-edge research facility offers a wide range of state-of-the-art technology, including a dedicated lab space, two data collection areas and a hybrid analysis suite supporting advanced sport science research.

This gym features 14 weightlifting platforms with integrated squat racks, which allows students to practice key lifts and enhance their coaching skills.

This space has one section equipped for upper body strength development with weightlifting benches and racks, and another designated for warm-ups and rehabilitation practical sessions.