Mathew Brown

Dr Mathew Brown

I am Course Director for Sport & Exercise Science

Since joining Canterbury Christ Church University in May 2008, I have held a number of roles and currently I am Course Director for Sport & Exercise Science course. I trained as a sports biomechanist at the University of Chichester between 2002 and 2008, graduating with a Ph.D. in 2009.

The skills I have developed and continue to develop, have lead me to undertake and supervise research covering, golf, kayaking, football, rugby, badminton, haemophilia, gait analysis and load carriage. This variety of application has only been possible through understanding that biomechanical, and more generally, Sport & Exercise skills are applicable beyond the boundaries of the subjects disciplines.

It is this broad scope of interest and application that drew me into the world of Sport & Exercise science, as it affords me the opportunity to work with sport, which has always been my passion, while also being able to contribute to the understanding of how human interact with their environment. This passion informs the manner in which I feel Sport & Exercise science should be taught and so in my teaching strives to give students the opportunity to explore the topics and skills they develop from the sporting context of the sessions, but also beyond, so they are aware of the applications and implications of these techniques and measures in broader contexts.

I currently teach across the breadth of the Sport & Exercise Science course, contributing at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels.

Currently I lead on Applied Technique Analysis, a level 6 (year 3) biomechanics and make significant contributions to Sport Performance Analysis (level 6), Biomechanics in Sport and Exercise (level 4) and Biomechanics, Skill Acquisition and Technology in Strength and Conditioning.  

My research has broad focus in the application of biomechanics and performance analysis. Currently, my research and supervision projects cover, submaximal performance, golf, football, rugby, badminton and gait analysis. 

Research Projects

  • A Biomechanical Analysis of Male and Female Athletes During Change of Direction (COD) Tasks. Researcher(s): Mr Tom Donelon. Supervisor(s): Mr Jon Swain, Dr Mathew Brown. [Postgraduate Research Project]
  • A quantitative assessment of first touch in association football. Researcher(s): Mr Liam Sykes. Supervisor(s): Dr Mathew Brown, Dr Damian Coleman. [Postgraduate Research Project]
  • Goal Events in Football: An investigation into how football performance is impacted in a given time-period preceding a goal event.. Researcher(s): Mr Nathan Morris. Supervisor(s): Dr Damian Coleman, Dr Mathew Brown. [Postgraduate Research Project]
  • Mechanised orthosis for children with neurological disorders (MOTION) - Normative data collection. Researcher(s): Dr Damian Coleman, Dr Mathew Brown, Mr Markus Hunt, Professor Eleni Hatzidimitriadou. [Project report]
  • Perceptual-cognitive expertise in football goalkeepers from an ecological-dynamics perspective, focusing on the Quiet Eye (QE).. Researcher(s): Mr Benjamin Franks. Supervisor(s): Mr Jon Swain, Dr Mathew Brown. [Postgraduate Research Project]
  • Sport Performance Analysis in Rugby Union: What is the accuracy of a predictive model based on historical data in predicting Rugby Union team performance?. Researcher(s): Mr Max Elvin. Supervisor(s): Dr Mathew Brown, Dr Damian Coleman. [Postgraduate Research Project]
  • Subconcious changes in movement to achieve a task-specific movement.. Researcher(s): Mr Gary Davy. Supervisor(s): Dr Mathew Brown, Dr Damian Coleman. [Postgraduate Research Project]
  • The Difference in Temporal and Tactical Factors in Elite Male Singles and Male Doubles Badminton. Researcher(s): Mr Daniel Yussuf. Supervisor(s): Mr Jon Swain, Dr Mathew Brown. [Postgraduate Research Project]
  • The Effect of a Bilateral Training Intervention on Sprint Start Performance of Experienced Sprinters.. Researcher(s): Mr Charlie Shingleton. Supervisor(s): Mr Jon Swain, Dr Mathew Brown. [Postgraduate Research Project]

Conference or workshop item

  • Stephensen, D., Brown, M.B., Digby-Bowl, C., Swaine, I. L. and Evans, G. (2016)Screening for falls risk in the older person with haemophilia – a pilot study. In: World Federation of Hemophilia Congress 2016, 24th-28th July 2016, Orlando, USA.
  • Stephensen, D., Brown, M.B., Digby-Bowl, C., Swaine, I. L. and Evans, G. (2016)Exploring the significance of falls in the everyday lives of the older person with haemophilia. In: 9th Annual Congress of the European Association for Haemophilia and Allied Disorders, 3rd-5th February, 2016, Malmo, Sweden.
  • Uphill, M., Balsdon, A., Brown, M., Digby-Bowl, C., Southam, M.J., & Swain, J. (2015). “Hero imagery”: are there performance advantages associated with imagining yourself as your favourite athlete? Poster presented at the British Psychological Society Division of Sport & Exercise Psychology conference, Leeds, December 2015.
  • Saunders, S. C., Brown, M. and Coleman, D. A. (2014) A laboratory and field comparison of gross efficiency at an absolute, relative and performance intensity. In: American College of Sports Medicine, 27-30th May 2014, Orlando, USA.
  • Saunders, S. C., Coleman, D. A. and Brown, M. (2013) The effect of short-term calorie restriction on exercise performance and efficiency in cyclists. In: European College of Sports Science, 26th-29th June 2013, Barcelona.
  • Brown, M.B., Lauder, M., and Dyson, R. (2010), Activation and contribution of trunk and leg musculature to force production during on water sprint kayak performance, In Proceedings of the 28thConference of the International Society of Biomechanics in Sport, Marquette, USA. pp. 203-206.
  • Brown, M. B., Lauder, M., and Dyson, R. (2007), Analysis of Skill Level in Flat-water Sprint Kayaking, 12th Annual Congress of the European College of Sports Science, Jyvaskyla, Finland.