Padel: A quantitative study of the shots and movements in the high-performance

Padel is a sport that has increasing its importance in recent years. Despite this evolution, there is a lack of scientific papers analyzing padel aspects, specifically about the quantification of movements and shots during match. The purpose of this study was to perform quantitative analyses of movements and shots in padel in order to establish the importance of each type. Twenty male professional players were recorded with a video during ten matches and movements (lateral, head-on and backward displacement, split-steps, jump for a smash, and turns pivoting on the right or left foot) and shots (direct and indirect drive, backhand, smash and lob, and direct volley) were identified, quantifie…

Effects of treadmill running and fatigue on impact acceleration in distance running

The effects of treadmill running on impact acceleration were examined together with the interaction between running surface and runner's fatigue state. Twenty recreational runners (11 men and 9 women) ran overground and on a treadmill (at 4.0 m/s) before and after a fatigue protocol consisting of a 30-minute run at 85% of individual maximal aerobic speed. Impact accelerations were analysed using two lightweight capacitive uniaxial accelerometers. A two-way repeated-measure analysis of variance showed that, in the pre-fatigue condition, the treadmill running decreased head and tibial peak impact accelerations and impact rates (the rate of change of acceleration), but no significant differenc…

Análisis del calzado técnico de tenis atendiendo a criterios epidemiológicos, de confort y biomecánicos

Instrumentation in sports biomechanics

La biomecánica deportiv emplea una serie de herramientas y técnicas de instrumentación paara el análisis de las diferentes disciplinas físico-deportivas, así como también para el desarrollo de nuevos materiales y equipamiento deportivo. Sin embargo, estas herramientas empleadas actualmente, poseen su cuerpo de conocimientos teóricos en los conocidos como "precursores de la biomecánica". Aristóteles, Da Vinci, Galileo, Descartes, Borelli, Newton, etc... El documento, presenta diferentes técnicas instrumentales desarrolladas para evaluar y aportar información relevante en la ejecución físico-deportiva, así como contribuir en la disminución de la epidemiología deportiva. Entre las principales …

Application of the discussion groups and initial phases of the qfd methodology to the study of Valencian ball trinquetes

Montaner AM, Montaner C, Perez-Soriano P, Carrasco-Embuena V, Llana-Belloch S. Application of the discussion groups and initial phases of the qfd methodology to the study of valencian ball trinquetes. J. Hum. Sport Exerc. Vol. 6, No. 4, pp. 629-638, 2011. The purpose of this research is to show an opinion study about the specifications that the valencian ball trinquetes should have according to the players’ opinion. The valencian ball game is a native sport with a great cultural tradition in the Valencian Community and it has been practised in the trinquetes since the XIV century. Despite its history, these facilities do not have the normative requirements for suitable sport development. Th…

PLAYING-RELATED MUSCULOSKELETAL DISORDERS IN WOODWIND, BRASS AND PERCUSSION PLAYERS: A REVIEW

Performing Arts Medicine is a broad field that includes the study of medical conditions and injuries incurred by dancers, instrument musicians and vocalists. Musicians' playing-related health problems have focused more and more the interest of scientists, researchers, physicians, physiotherapists and, in generally, of health care professionals during the last decades. The most relevant Performing Arts Medicine's literature of approximately the past twenty years has been summarized. Special attention has been given to studies concerning playing-related musculoskeletal conditions of musicians. Overuse syndrome is the most reported diagnosis among instrumental musicians suffering from playing-…

Human body flotation and organic responses to water immersion

Swimming is a physical activity performed in an environment where human beings are not adapted from an evolutionary point of view. For this reason, swimming for humans is considered an ontogenetic movement and not a phylogenetic one such as walking or running on land. Locomotion into the water has some very specific characteristics for the human being, since the body experiences a situation of hydrostatic microgravity which in most cases enables flotation. Flotation capacity is affected by the physicochemical properties of the water (temperature and osmolarity) and by the body characteristics of the immersed person. In this situation: (1) joints no longer experience the load implied by supp…

Effects of exercise in people with cerebral palsy. A review.

Regardless the advances in medical science, it seems that the prevalence of cerebral palsy (CP) has been increasing during the last forty years. Cerebral palsy is associated with muscle weakness and impaired circulation that leads to muscle spasticity and deficits in motor control, thereby limiting the individual¿s ability to perform not only leisure, social or occupational activities but also basic daily tasks. In this sense, exercise is gaining popularity as an intervention choice for this population. Literature aiming to improve the quality of life of patients suffering from cerebral pathologies such as cerebral palsy has observed that both strength and aerobic training lead to significa…

Estudio preliminar de la activación neuromuscular corriendo descalzo y calzado = Preliminary study of the neuromuscular activation during barefoot and shod running.

El objetivo del presente estudio preliminar fue comparar la actividad muscular de los músculos tibial anterior, peroneo lateral largo, gastrocnemio medial y gastrocnemio lateral entre la carrera con y sin calzado, y la influencia de la fatiga. 7 participantes realizaron una carrera de fatiga de 20 minutos al 75% de su velocidad aeróbica máxima en cinta con 1% de pendiente. Se midió la actividad mioeléctrica de los músculos antes mencionados tanto antes como después de la prueba de fatiga en dos condiciones: con calzado y sin calzado. Los resultados mostraron una mayor actividad del tibial anterior durante la carrera en fatiga descalzo respecto a la carrera calzado y una mayor actividad del …

BIOMECHANICAL FACTORS TO BE TAKEN INTO ACCOUNT TO PREVENT INJURIES AND IMPROVE SPORTING PERFORMANCE ON ARTIFICIAL TURF

This article reviews existing knowledge concerning the epidemiology, instruments and regulatory criteria currently used to evaluate artificial turf soccer pitches. Recent years have seen tremendous growth in the use of artificial turf as a playing surface for sports (rugby, soccer, American football…) and the problems traditionally associated with artificial turf and its relationship with a higher percentage of injuries seem to be disappearing. The contribution of biomechanics to the development of new techniques and instruments for analysing the properties and characteristics of grass pitches has contributed towards close collaboration with the regulatory bodies of different sporting organ…

Evaluación y caracterización biomecánica de los trinquetes de pelota valenciana. (Biomechanical assessment and characterization of the Valencian ball trinquetes).

El trinquete es la instalacion de referencia en la practica de la pelota valenciana, donde se juegan las modalidades profesionales de escala i corda y raspall. Sin embargo, no existe una normativa ni procedimientos de ensayo especificos que permitan definir las caracteristicas mecanicas que deben reunir paredes y pavimento del trinquete, para que los jugadores tengan una practica segura y optimicen su rendimiento. El objetivo de este estudio fue analizar diferentes variables mecanicas en las instalaciones de juego, determinar los procedimientos de ensayo mas adecuados y, finalmente, proponer unos valores mecanicos que definan una instalacion de calidad. Los estudios se llevaron a cabo en 10…

Factores de rendimiento en el desplazamiento del tenista influenciados por el calzado. (Performance factors on tennis player displacements influenced by the shoes.)

Los desplazamientos laterales son de gran importancia en el tenis. Sin embargo, no ha sido publicado ningun estudio sobre el efecto del calzado sobre el rendimiento en este tipo de movimientos. En el estudio participaron 5 jugadores habituales de tenis y se analizaron 10 calzados comerciales de tenis. El movimiento estudiado consistio en un desplazamiento lateral con parada y cambio de sentido, registrandose las fuerzas mediante una plataforma dinamometrica Dinascan-IBV y grabandose el movimiento con dos camaras de video S-VHS Panasonic WV-BL600. Los resultados de los ANOVAs realizados mostraron que algunas de las variables analizadas eran dependientes del calzado (p < 0.05). De estas, dest…

Factores de rendimiento en el desplazamiento del tenista influenciados por el calzado.

Los desplazamientos laterales son de gran importancia en el tenis. Sin embargo, no ha sido publicado ningún estudio sobre el efecto del calzado sobre el rendimiento en este tipo de movimientos. En el estudio participaron 5 jugadores habituales de tenis y se analizaron 10 calzados comerciales de tenis. El movimiento estudiado consistió en un desplazamiento lateral con parada y cambio de sentido, registrándose las fuerzas mediante una plataforma dinamométrica Dinascan-IBV y grabándose el movimiento con dos cámaras de vídeo S-VHS Panasonic WV-BL600. Los resultados de los ANOVAs realizados mostraron que algunas de las variables analizadas eran dependientes del calzado (p < 0.05). De éstas, dest…

Case study: effect of handrim diameter on performance in a paralympic wheelchair athlete.

This study, with a top T-52 class athlete, determines the relationship between stroke frequency (SF) and push time (PT) and wheelchair velocity (Wv) using different handrim diameters (HD) and the effect of different HDs on the athlete’s heart rate (HR) and blood lactate (LACT) at competition speeds. Wv shows a linear-direct relationship with SF but a linear-inverse relationship with PT (p &lt; .001 in both cases). Using bigger handrims (0.37 m instead of 0.36 m), SF increases 6%, while PT decreases 27% (at 24 Km·h–1). HR (p &lt; .0001) increases with Wv and is also affected by HD with differences between the 0.34 m—0.36 m handrim group (lower values) and the 0.37 m handrim (higher values). …