ABSTRACT
The forward stoke during paddling is not investigted in three dimension (3-D) up to now. Investigators studied the path, the velocity, the acceleration of the boat and the join center of the shoulder, elbow and wrist in 2 dimensions. The aim of the study was to measure 3-D kinematic data of the forward stroke during paddling. We applied a videometriy system (Motion Analysis Corporation) with 6 cameras and 21 passive markers. Subjects of this study were 10 wildwater paddlers, members of the Austrian slalom wildwater team and members of the junior slalom team. The video data were captured at 200 frames per second for 3 trials over 7 seconds each. For the marker setting and the fixation of the markers we adapted a modified application of the Cleveland Markerset for clinical gait analysis of the lower extremities. The joint angles of the shoulder, elbow and the wrist were calculated in the sagittal, frontal and transversal plane. The position of the shoulder girdle was measured relative to the lab coordinate system. To trigger the kinematic data we used light switches, on both sides of the boatto simulate the water surface. The paddle cycle was defined from the initial water contact to the next initial water contact at the same side. This cycle was subdivided in four phases. The waterphase on the ipsilateral side followed by airphase and waterphase on the contralateral side followed by air phase. The cycles were normalized in time to 100% cycle time. Mean and standard deviation of each subject was calculated. With this method it is possible to determine the path of motion for the angle in the shoulder, elbow and wrist in all three planes of movement. The combined time normalization and averaging resulted in a feasible representation of an average paddling. The timing and the range of motion are presented in a quantitative manner.
