Researching Embodied Sport

Despite a growing interest in the sociology of the body, there has to date been a lack of scholarly work addressing the embodied aspects which form a central part of our understanding and experience of sport and movement cultures. Researching Embodied Sport explores the political, social and cultural significance of embodied approaches to the study of sport, physical activities and dance. It explains how embodied approaches fit with existing theory in studies of sport and movement cultures and makes a compelling case for incorporating an embodied approach into the study of sporting practices and experience. The book adopts a multi-disciplinary lens, moving beyond the traditional dualism of body and mind, and incorporating the physical with the social and the psychological. It applies key theories that have shaped our thinking about the body and sport, and examines both the personal, subjective experience of sporting activities and those experiences involving engagement and contact with other people, in team sports for example. The book also explores the methodological implications of 'doing' embodied research, particularly in terms of qualitative approaches to sports research. Written by a team of leading international sports researchers, and packed with vivid examples from sporting contexts as diverse as surfing, fell running, korfball and disability sport, Researching Embodied Sport is fascinating reading for any advanced student or researcher working in the sociology of sport, physical cultural studies, physical education, body studies or health studies.

Ian Wellard is based in the School of Human and Life Sciences at Canterbury Christ Church University, UK. His main research interests relate to embodied practices, physical activity, masculinities and sport. His previous books include Sport, Fun and Enjoyment and Sport, Masculinities and the Body, both for Routledge. Ian is also interested in participation and inclusive practices in physical education and youth sport and edited Rethinking Gender and Youth Sport, also for Routledge.

1. Researching embodied sport: an introduction 2. Post-structuralism and embodiment in sport 3. Bodies in the zone 4. Embodied movements in physical education: 200 years of organising bodies in schools 5. The loneliness of the fell runner 6. Body as aesthetic project 7. Isolated embodiment in the gym 8. Embodied practices in Korfball 9. Basketball, embodiment and the everyday 10. Surfing friendships and encounters in the field 11. Being Nosey: The body as an effective but flawed tool for research 12. Researching Action Sport with a GoPro(TM) Camera: An embodied and emotional mobile video tale of the sea, masculinity, and men-who-surf 13. Researching disabled sporting bodies: Reflections from an 'able'-bodied ethnographer 14. Her life in movement: reflections on embodiment as a methodology 15. An overview and final thoughts