COVERED DISTANCES OF HANDBALL PLAYERS OBTAINED BY AN AUTOMATIC TRACKING METHOD

The aim of this work is to obtain the distances covered by handball players and their velocities during a match using a new approach based on automatic tracking method described in Figueroa et. al. (2006a, 2006b) and the Adaboost detector (Okuma, 2004). A whole game of a Brazilian regional handball championship for players under age of 21 was recorded. Applying the mentioned automatic tracking, the accumulated covered distances and the velocities were calculated for all the players. The results of average covered distances (±SD) in the 1st and 2 nd halves were 2199(±230) and 2453(±214). The results of covered distances and the velocities allow individual and collective analyses of the players by the team staff. The proposed method revealed to be a powerful tool to improve physical analysis of the handball players

Effects of flooring on required coefficient of friction : elderly adult vs. middle-aged adult barefoot gait

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of flooring on barefoot gait according to age and gender. Two groups of healthy subjects were analyzed: the elderly adult group (EA; 10 healthy subjects) and the middle-aged group (MA; 10 healthy subjects). Each participant was asked to walk at his or her preferred speed over two force plates on the following surfaces: 1) homogeneous vinyl (HOV), 2) carpet, 3) heterogeneous vinyl (HTV) and 4) mixed (in which the first half of the pathway was covered by HOV and the second by HTV). Two force plates (Kistler 9286BA) embedded in the data collection room floor measured the ground reaction forces and friction. The required coefficient of friction (RCOF) was analyzed. For the statistical analysis, a linear mixed-effects model for repeated measures was performed. During barefoot gait, there were differences in the RCOF among the flooring types during the heel contact and toe-off phases. Due to better plantar proprioception during barefoot gait, the EA and MA subjects were able to distinguish differences among the flooring types. Moreover, when the EA were compared with the MA subjects, differences could be observed in the RCOF during the toe-off phase, and gender differences in the RCOF could also be observed during the heel contact phase in barefoot gait50147152CONSELHO NACIONAL DE DESENVOLVIMENTO CIENTÍFICO E TECNOLÓGICO - CNPQCOORDENAÇÃO DE APERFEIÇOAMENTO DE PESSOAL DE NÍVEL SUPERIOR - CAPES473729/2008-3; 304975/2009-5; 140731/ 2011-3BEX 11241/13-