PROFILING INTERNATIONAL ‘SCHOOL – CLUB – INTERCOLLEGIATE – ELITE’ ROWING TECHNIQUE AND BOAT PERFORMANCES DURING TRAINING AND RACING

Rowing is a strength endurance sport - technical proficiency will ensure strength, endurance and other physiological capabilities are translated into maximising boat speed. Rower, blade, boat and water are in continual interaction during the rowing stroke and must be highly coordinated during its continuous, cyclic and ‘closed skill’ movement under changing external (wind, weather, temperature) and internal conditions (stroke frequencies, boat velocity, mutual influence in a team boat and progressive fatigue). For success in any level of competitive rowing, athletes must use their technical skills and entire performance capacity (e.g. physical, condition, coordination) to achieve and retain a high average boat velocity throughout the race (Mattes, 2012). Monitoring and analysing boat and athlete-specific aspects of rowing technique and performance during training and racing, is seen as an area of opportunity to assist coaches and athletes at any rowing level to monitor the progress (short/ long-term) during training and towards a well prepared race design

THE EFFECT OF CAMERA PAN ON THE TWO-DIMENSIONAL DIRECT LINEAR TRANSFORMATION AND SCALAR RECONSTRUCTION TECHNIQUES WHEN APPLIED TO ERGOMETER ROWING

Changes in camera pan may affect reconstruction accuracy of two-dimensional (2D) kinematic data collected in on-water rowing testing. The 2D direct linear transformation (2D-DLT) may assist in improving reconstruction accuracy of rowing kinematics when a perpendicular camera changes position. Accuracy of the 2D-DLT and scalar reconstruction techniques was compared using coefficient of multiple correlations (CMCs), range of motion difference (ROMDiff) and root mean square error (RMSE). 2DDLT was found to have significantly greater accuracy (CMC and RMSE;

DESIGN, VALIDATION AND APPLICATION OF AN UNOBTRUSIVE OAR FORCEANGLE MEASUREMENT SYSTEM

Feedback is necessary for the improvement of motor performance. Elite level athletes in particular require accurate and detailed kinematic and kinetic information for improvement. The purpose of this study was to design, build, validate and apply an unobtrusive oar force-angle measurement system for the evaluation of on-water rowing performance. Performance measurement systems must also meet the criteria of accuracy, unobtrusiveness, reliability, quality visualisation and affordability. Using high quality IMU and force measurement technology a system (RowIMU) was designed and built that met these criteria. Results for horizontal, vertical and feather angle of the oar and the normal handle force were obtained and reported. The system provided innovative and useful information for coaches and rowers

A 2-DIMENSIONAL VIDEO BASED MODEL FOR USE IN ERGOMETER ROWING KINEMATICS

Motion capture of the rowing stroke using accurate 3D opto-reflective systems has been limited by the constraints of the surrounding hydrodynamic environment. As a consequence 2D lower-extremity kinematic models have been used in an attempt to counter these logistical issues (Lamb, 1989). Despite this, there is limited research supporting the accuracy of a 2D video based model (2DVBM) for motion capture of the rowing stroke. The purpose of this study was to assess the accuracy of a 2DVBM against the conventional gait model using a 3D opto-reflective system

FORCE-ANGLE CHARACTERISTICS AND LEVEL OF COMPETITIVE REPRESENTATION IN ON-WATER ROWING

The graphical presentation of the propulsive form applied by the oar to the pin, plotted against the oar horizontal angle, has been used as a diagnostic tool for rowing skill. How the pattern is related to variables such as level of competitive has not been well identified. Bivariate functional principal components analysis (bfPCA) was used on form-angle data to identify the main modes of variation in curves representing twenty seven female rowers of two different competition levels (Australian Domestic and Australian International level), rowing at 32 strokes per minute in a single scull boat. Discriminant function analysis showed strong classification of rowers using force-angle graphs across both sides of the boat, with increased rate of force development identified as an important characteristic for international rowers. Additionally for the bow-side, spending less time in the first half of the drive phase was also identified as an important feature for international rowers. The results of this demonstrate that there are potentially some common characteristics of the form-angle that are important for selection in international level sculling boats

THE APPLICATION OF FUNCTIONAL DATA ANALYSIS TECHNIQUES FOR CHARACTERIZING DIFFERENCES IN ROWING PROPULSIVE-PIN FORCE CURVES

The pattern of propulsive force (measured at the pin), represented by force-time and forceangle graphs, typically differs among rowers. How the pattern differs according to competition level and gender has not been identified. Functional data analysis (FDA) techniques were used on force-time and force-angle data to identify the main modes of variance in curves representing thirty eight rowers of different competition levels (domestic, underage international and open international) and different gender. Stepwise discriminant function analysis showed strong classification of rowers using force-time and force-angle graphs and strong classification of female rowers. Male rowers, Underage rowers and Open International rowers showed weaker classification. Despite this, FDA provided useful information for the assessment of rowing performance

ROWING APPLIED SESSION IMPROVING ROWING PERFORMANCE AND MINIMISING INJURY

Competitive rowing has been practiced for millennia as evidenced by Egyptian wall paintings from 2500 BC. Boats from the First Egyptian Dynasty were 25 m long and 2 m wide had 30 rowers. Rowing races were conducted in Ancient Greece as part of festivals and games (Virgil, 19 – 30 BC) and in Rome regattas were organized for entertainment. The complexity of rowing boats probably reached their peak with the Greek Triremes which had 170 rowers in three banks. Today, in the modern day Olympics, there are 14 different events from the single scull to the sweep eight with coxswain. Further, ergometer rowing is an international sport in its own right. Both on-water and ergometer rowing are activities that are enjoyed recreationally and as a form of fitness training. Whatever the motivation for involvement in rowing, an understanding of the mechanisms of performance and injury can deepen appreciation of the sport. Progress will be made towards optimizing performance and minimizing injury when the relevant determinants are known. They can be grouped by their association with the rower, boat, oar and environment

A force profile analysis comparison between functional data analysis, statistical parametric mapping and statistical non-parametric mapping in on-water single sculling

Objectives: To examine whether the Functional Data Analysis (FDA), Statistical Parametric Mapping (SPM) and Statistical non-Parametric Mapping (SnPM) hypothesis testing techniques differ in their ability to draw inferences in the context of a single, simple experimental design. Design: The sample data used is cross-sectional (two-sample gender comparison) and evaluation of differences between statistical techniques used a combination of descriptive and qualitative assessments. Methods: FDA, SPM and SnPM t-tests were applied to sample data of twenty highly skilled male and female rowers, rowing at 32 strokes per minute in a single scull boat. Statistical differences for gender were assessed by applying two t-tests (one for each side of the boat). Results: The t-statistic values were identical for all three methods (with the FDA t-statistic presented as an absolute measure). The critical t-statistics (tcrit) were very similar between the techniques, with SPM tcrit providing a marginally higher tcrit than the FDA and SnPM tcrit values (which were identical). All techniques were successful in identifying consistent sections of the force waveform, where male and female rowers were shown to differ significantly (p < 0.05). Conclusions: This is the first study to show that FDA, SPM and SnPM t-tests provide consistent results when applied to sports biomechanics data. Though the results were similar, selection of one technique over another by applied researchers and practitioners should be based on the underlying parametric assumption of SPM, as well as contextual factors related to the type of waveform data to be analysed and the experimental research question of interest