A Pilot Study on the e-Kayak System: A Wireless DAQ Suited for Performance Analysis in Flatwater Sprint Kayaks

Abstract

Nowadays, in modern elite sport, the identification of the best training strategies which are useful in obtaining improvements during competitions requires an accurate measure of the physiologic and biomechanical parameters that affect performance. The goal of this pilot study was to investigate the capabilities of the e-Kayak system, a multichannel digital acquisition system specifically tailored for flatwater sprint kayaking application. e-Kayak allows the synchronous measure of all the parameters involved in kayak propulsion, both dynamic (including forces acting on the paddle and footrest) and kinematic (including stroke frequency, displacement, velocity, acceleration, roll, yaw, and pitch of the boat). After a detailed description of the system, we investigate its capability in supporting coaches to evaluate the performance of elite athletes’ trough-specific measurements. This approach allows for a better understanding of the paddler’s motion and the relevant effects on kayak behavior. The system allows the coach to carry out a wide study of kayak propulsion highlighting, and, at the same time, the occurrences of specific technical flaws in the paddling technique. In order to evaluate the correctness of the measurement results acquired in this pilot study, these results were compared with others which are available in the literature and which were obtained from subjects with similar characteristics.

Application of Instrumented Paddles in Measuring On-Water Kinetics of Front and Back Paddlers in K2 Sprint Kayaking Crews of Various Ability Levels

“…This FBG-based instrumented paddle successfully measured handgrip force and blade loading distribution on competitive and recreational kayakers in a 50-m swimming pool [7]. Recently, a e-Kayak system with multichannel digital acquisition system was tailor-made for flatwater sprint kayaking to simultaneously measure forces acting on the paddle and footrest as well as kinematics of the paddler and the boat [8,9].…”

“…Nearly all previously studies of on-water kayak performance examined individual performance in a one-seater K1 kayak [3,5,7,9,10]. The literature on crew boats is very limited [11][12][13].…”

Characterization of Leg Push Forces and Their Relationship to Velocity in On-Water Sprint Kayaking

“…It should be noted that the study by Bonaiuto et al [ 28 ] investigated forces in the paddle and footrest while recording the kayak movement and acceleration with a special developed system called the “e-kayak system”. However, the system was still missing the seat forces in order to elucidate the full kinetic picture.…”

A New Measurement System for Performance Analysis in Flatwater Sprint Kayaking

“…The e-Kayak system is a digital acquisition system based on the DAQuino [22][23][24]. This is a modular DAQ architecture composed of up to eight slave nodes connected to a master one via a high performance 2.4 GHz wireless link (ISM Band).…”