Repository logo
 
Loading...
Profile Picture

Search Results

Now showing 1 - 2 of 2
  • A Diagonal Movement Pattern of Arm Elevation and Depression in Overhead Throwing Athletes: An Exploratory Kinematic Analysis for Clinical Application
    Publication . Morais, Nuno; Ferreira, Joana; Gordo, Jéssica; Vilas-Boas, J. Paulo; Pascoal, Augusto Gil
    Assessing scapular position and motion during functional arm movement patterns may add relevant information to the evaluation of the clinical status and athletic performance of overhead sports athletes’ shoulders. This study aimed to examine the three-dimensional scapular kinematics of elite volleyball players with (n = 11) and without scapular dyskinesis (n = 11) in comparison to non-athletes (n = 27). Four distinct arm elevation/depression tasks were assessed: shoulder abduction/adduction, flexion/extension, scaption, and a diagonal movement pattern mimicking throwing (proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation diagonal 2 for flexion/extension or PNF–D2– flx/ext). Kinematic data was recorded from the spiking/dominant shoulder using an electromagnetic system (FASTRAK, Polhemus Inc., Colchester, VT, USA); MotionMonitor v9 software, Innovative Sports Training, Inc., Chicago, IL, USA). The study compared scapular rotations at 15◦ intervals of humero-thoracic (HT) angles, ranging from minimum to 120◦. Significantly different 3D scapular kinematics were observed between traditional arm motion tasks and PNF–D2 arm motion task (HT angle × task interaction effect, p < 0.001, 0.275 ≤ η2p ≤ 0.772). However, when considering the combined influence of phase, HT angle, task, and group factors, no differences were found between groups (phase × HT angle × task × group, p ≥ 0.161, 0.032 ≤ η2p ≤ 0.058). The inclusion of a functional arm movement pattern when evaluating scapular position and movement in overhead athletes does not appear to be mandatory. However, these findings are preliminary and highlight the need for more research in this area.
  • Relationship Between Tethered Forces and the Four Swimming Techniques Performance
    Publication . Morouço, Pedro; Keskinen, Kari L.; Vilas-Boas, João Paulo; Fernandes, Ricardo Jorge
    The purpose of the current study was to identify the relationships between competitive performance and tether forces according to distance swam, in the four strokes, and to analyze if relative values of force production are better determinants of swimming performance than absolute values. The subjects (n = 32) performed a 30 s tethered swimming all-out effort. The competitive swimming velocities were obtained in the distances 50, 100 and 200 m using official chronometric values of competitions within 25 days after testing protocol. Mean force and velocity (50 m event) show significant correlations for front crawl (r = .92, p < .01), backstroke (r = .81, p < .05), breaststroke (r = .94, p < .01) and butterfly (r = .92, p < .01). The data suggests that absolute values of force production are more associated to competitive performance than relative values (normalized to body mass). Tethered swimming test seems to be a reliable protocol to evaluate the swimmer stroking force production and a helpful estimator of competitive performance in short distance competitive events.