Paddling Force Profiles at Different Stroke Rates in Elite Sprint Kayaking

Abstract

In sprint kayaking the role that paddling technique plays in optimizing paddle forces and resultant kayak kinematics is still unclear. The aim of this study was to analyze the magnitude and shape of the paddle force-time curve at different stroke rates, and their implications for kayak performance. Ten elite kayak paddlers (5 males and 5 females) were analyzed while performing 2000-m on-water trials, at 4 different paces (60, 80, and 100 strokes per minute, and race pace). The paddle and kayak were instrumented with strain gauges and accelerometers, respectively. For both sexes, the force-time curves were characterized at training pace by having a bell shape and at race pace by a first small peak, followed by a small decrease in force and then followed by a main plateau. The force profile, represented by the mean force/peak force ratio, became more rectangular with increasing stroke rate (F[3,40] = 7.87, P < .01). To obtain a rectangular shape to maximize performance, kayak paddlers should seek a stronger water phase with a rapid increase in force immediately after blade entry, and a quick exit before the force dropping far below the maximum force. This pattern should be sought when training at race pace and in competition.

A Systematic Review of Performance Analysis in Rowing Using Inertial Sensors

“…The ability to measure the quality of the stroke cycle with an abundance of metrics is thus of high interest to coaches and athletes alike. Stroke rate (cadence) was the most frequently extracted metric surrounding stroke quality (12/24-50.0%) [14,16,21,25,26,[33][34][35][36][37]. Athletes can have an optimal stroke rate based on their physicality and thus it is an important metric to monitor.…”

“…The rhythm of a rower can be directly impacted by increases and decreases in stroke rate; both of these parameters were measured simultaneously by Tessendorf et al [21]. Stroke length was monitored in three of the included records (4/24-16.7%) [21,26,46,47]. Stroke length is measured in terms of the angle the oar sweeps from catch to finish position.…”

“…Over a third of the included records (13/36-36.1%) analysed metrics surrounding instrumented rowing materials. Six of the thirteen records investigating instrumented rowing materials (6/13-46.2%) measured boat velocity [25,26,34,35,39,43]. Boat velocity is the most important performance indicator in rowing.…”

“…Presenting raw signal data to a coach or an athlete is sometimes inappropriate as distinct biomechanical events are not distinct; noise can be eradicated from a signal using correctly designed filters. A high volume of the reviewed papers used a windowing/filtering technique during their data analysis (15/36-41.7%) [14,18,22,26,27,30,34,[38][39][40][41][42][43][44]47].…”

“…Of the 15 records, nine (9/15-60.0%) reported the use of a low pass filter [14,18,26,27,30,34,38,39,43]. Seven out of nine of the low pass filters (7/9-77.8%) [14,18,26,27,30,38,43] were used for noise removal. The majority of the noise removal low pass filters were Butterworth (4/7-57.1%) [18,26,27,43] filters ranging from orders of 2-4.…”