RESEARCH ARTICLE


Smartpaddle® as a New Tool for Monitoring Swimmers’ Kinematic and Kinetic Variables in Real Time



Daniel A. Marinho1, 2, Tiago M. Barbosa2, 5, Ari Auvinen3, Tiago Lopes1, 2, António J. Silva2, 4, Jorge E. Morais2, 5, *
1 Department of Sport Sciences, University of Beira Interior, Covilhã, Portugal
2 Research Centre in Sports, Health and Human Development (CIDESD), Covilhã, Portugal
3 Ari Auvinen, Pool Shark Analytics, Espoo, Finland
4 Department of Sport Sciences, University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro, Vila Real, Portugal
5 Department of Sport Sciences, Instituto Politécnico de Bragança, Bragança, Portugal


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Creative Commons License
© 2022 Marinho et al.

open-access license: This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License (CC-BY 4.0), a copy of which is available at: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode. This license permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

* Address correspondence to this author at the Department of Sport Sciences, Instituto Politécnico de Bragança, Campus Sta. Apolónia, Apartado 1101, 5301-856, Bragança, Portugal; Tel: (351) 273 303 000, Fax: (351) 273 303 135; E-mail: morais.jorgestrela@gmail.com


Abstract

Background:

Smart technology, such as wearables, applied to sports analysis is essential for performance enhancement. New technological equipment can promote the interaction between researchers, coaches, and athletes, facilitating information exchange in real time.

Objective:

The aim of this study was to present new wearable equipment (SmartPaddle®) to measure kinematic and kinetic variables in swimming and understand the agreement of the propulsive force variable with a pressure sensor system.

Methods:

Four male university swimmers (18.75±0.50 years old, 71.55±6.80 kg of body mass, and 175.00±5.94 cm of height) were analyzed. The SmartPaddle® and a pressure sensor system were used to collect the kinetic data (propulsive force). The comparison between the propulsive force methods was based on t-test paired samples, simple linear regression, and Bland-Altman plots.

Results:

SmartPaddle® is a system that consists of (i) a wearable device, (ii) the Trainesense Session Manager mobile application for recording, and; (iii) the Analysis Center for analysis and data storage. It records a set of kinematic and kinetic parameters useful for coaches daily. The comparison between the different methods revealed non-significant differences and a very-high relationship.

Conclusion:

SmartPaddle® is a feasible wearable device that swimmersswimmers can use can use to provide immediate data about their kinematic and kinetic profile. Coaches can easily monitor these parameters and give immediate suggestions to their swimmers on a daily basis.

Keywords: Swimming, Training, Kinematics, Kinetics, Technique, Sports.