The validation of a paddle power meter for slalom kayaking
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Date
15/03/2017
Open Access Location
Authors
Macdermid PW
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Georg Thierne Verlag KG Stuttgart
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Abstract
The ability to quantify power within the sport of slalom kayaking would provide coaches and athletes objective data to monitor performance. This study determined the validity of a kayak paddle power meter and subsequent relationship between work rate and stroke kinetics. One participant completed multiple trials of a flat-water, straight-line sprint and a sequence of slalom gates at numerous intensities to attain the velocity:power relationship. Laboratory results identified the kayak paddles' strain gauges were valid and reliable, and field tests presented a cubic relationship for power as a function of velocity in the straight-line sprint (R 2 =0.982) and the slalom-specific test (R 2 =0.993). Further analysis of stroke kinetics identified velocity of hand movement at individual peak force capability to be critical in the highest work rates achieved for both slalom and flat-water sprinting. It was concluded that the kayak paddle power meter tested is a valid means of recording work rate and stroke kinetics during kayaking in the field.
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Sports Med Int Open, 2017, 1 (2), pp. E50 - E57