Dr. Gideon Ariel of the Computerized Bionrechanical Analysis Center. in Amherst, Mass., turns to computers to help improve athletic performance. Dr. Ariel specializes in body movement--how an athlete should move in order to insure optimum performance. "We take highspeed f ilrm of the athlete in motion, then analyze it frame by frame. The data is fed into a computer to calculate the velocity and acceleration of each joint. Then we determine the forces acting on the joint. This tells us whether the total movement is efficient."

New York optometrist Dr. Richard Kavner is one of about 100 specialists in the country who are involved in improving athletes' eye-movement skills-aim, focusing, and eye and body coordination. These are the skills an athlete needs to locate a ball in space arid know where it is in relation to himself, so that his body can be in the right place at the right time.

Dr. Kavner's exercises can also help improve peripheral vision. Other exercises require his clients to perform Chaplinesque-type feats by wearing glasses that distort normal spatial perception. Completely disoriented, the athletes must walk a narrow beans and touch a ball hanging nearby at the same time. The ball isn't where they

think it is.

"13y setting the eyes in conflict with what the body reports," explains Kavner, "you can teach athletes to form new associations with eye and body movement. These exercises show athletes that by changing their body posture, t hey call change how they see, and become more skillful at shooting fouls or returning a tennis serve."

Several weeks ago, Leslie Covillo beat everyone on her track team, including Itie boys. When asked about

her future plans, she said, "Nothing special." But Dr. Manvin Clein chimed in, "Just look at her T-shirt-it says Moscow 1980."

Indeed, the next Olympiad will feature a host of Americans whose performances will be aided by sports science. Starting in May. the first U.S. Olympic Training Center in Squaw Valley, Calif., will provide Olympic hopefuls with the latest scientific advice from the experts. Tune in to the Moscow Olympiad for results.