Why a site devoted to sports science? Well, firstly, that term "sports science" may be slightly misleading, because it suggests a very narrow focus, which is not us at all. In fact, what we're trying to do is expand thinking, broaden horizons and stimulate thought in areas that are often not given due attention.

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So a frustration we both have is that when reading the media, there is often information and insight that is missing, inaccurately reported, or just unknown. And while we would never claim to have all the answers (we're not shooting for any reporter's jobs here!), we do think that as scientists, we have a unique experience and insight. And sharing that, in order to stimulate debate, is essence of what The Science of Sport is all about.

Our mission, then, is to:

• Translate science and make it available to you
• Apply science to sports events to increase understanding, stimulate debate and encourage thought
• Use the site to provide useful, relevant and credible tips and suggestions for improving your sport.

So we aim to bring you the second, third and fourth level of insight. When a big news story hits (like the doping scandal of this year's Tour de France, or Oscar Pistorius' bid to make the Beijing Olympics), we'll provide insight into the science behind the facts and events.

Hopefully, in this way, we can complement the news reporting. I (Ross Tucker) also have a Sports Management PostGrad, and so I particularly enjoy the combination of management and science - two keys to sporting success, demonstrated frequently by South Africa's failure to apply either! So many of my posts span the divide between management and sport, which means that The Science of Sport is a little more than just "sports science".

But then it's important to remember that "Science" is not about what you think, it's about how you think and we aim to share our thinking patterns and thoughts with you.

A secondary objective is to create a site that has credibility and then provides useful information to athletes and sports people of all levels. One of our pet hates is that there are so many 'fraudulent' claims and programmes out there, all promising great exercise results, but never based on science.

And our particular interests (Jonathan is an accredited cycling coach with the US cycling body, I'm accredited for Athletics in SA) mean that we are in a position to provide training and physiological advice to athletes. And so what The Science of Sport will do is feature regular articles on training, physiology, technology in sport and racing strategy that we hope will be of value to you as a sports person.

Of course, in all this, we're still sports fans, and so we admit to a certain bias when we write. But that's no problem for us - it makes this site more personal, and we encourage thoughtful debate. Our bias will come through, but it's never dogmatic and we'd love to hear your thoughts and opinions on some of the more controversial articles we write.

Most important, we want this site to be personal, which means we'll write in the first person, and we'll write in a more conversational style, much more like a blog. The idea is talk about sport - that's what we all do, and we'd just like to do it a little more academically than some!
 

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