The instrumentation of wheelchair racing chairs is currently limited by the influence of the athlete-wheelchair system mass and performance. Inertial measurement units (IMUs) provide a lightweight solution, and have demonstrated accurate kinematic monitoring of wheelchair ball sports. With the aim of investigating the capability of IMUs detecting contact and release timings, a study was performed on seven national level wheelchair racing athletes (T34 and T54 classifications). Athletes performed treadmill-based propulsion at speeds ranging between 19 km/h and 32 km/h, with the population sample enabling comparison between classification, propulsion speed, gender, age, glove type and wheel type. Contact and release timing points of each athlete were verified against measures obtained using video capture (100 Hz), which is considered a gold standard measure. IMUs identified contact timings for all athletes, however could not consistently identify release points for all athletes. Propulsion speed and gender were found to have minimal influence on the capacity to determine contact.
Abstract:A high prevalence of shoulder injuries exists across the wheelchair using populations. To maintain competitive longevity and optimise performance, athletes must employ techniques which pose minimal injury risk. A computational model was used to assess relationships between the magnitude of reaction moments at the shoulder with key propulsion characteristics, including; contact and release angles, hand speed at contact, and joint angles at contact. Subject-specific musculoskeletal models (mass, maximum isometric force) for two elite wheelchair racing athletes were derived, and driven through kinetic and kinematic data obtained using motion capture. Greater reaction moments (min 72.6 Nm, max: 1077.8 Nm) at the shoulder were correlated with hand velocity (7.2 m/s-9.3 m/s) at contact (|r| > 0.866, p < 0.013), push time (|r| > 0.866, p < 0.013), and kinematic positioning at contact (|r| > 0.784, p < 0.020). Variations between athlete reaction force at the pushrim and joint reaction moments demonstrate the importance of coupled kinematic and modelling analysis in prescribing technique adaptations.
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