Coordination Dynamics of Upper Limbs in Swimming: Effects of Speed and Fluid Flow Manipulation

Coordination and stroking parameters in the four swimming techniques: a narrative review

Swimming performances are multifactorial and primarily include anthropometric, hydrodynamic, bioenergetic and biomechanical factors whose contributions depend on age, gender, swimming distance and swimming stroke. An integrative and multivariate approach to swimming captures the complexity and various pathways of performance, but swimming technique is generally examined through such parameters as stroke index, propelling efficiency, stroke length and stroke rate. The first originality of our narrative review is to present the state of art of the methods to collect and measure inter-limb coordination in the four swimming techniques, with a particular focus on the effect of skill. The second part provides readers with an overview of the current findings on the main factors that influence inter-limb coordination (i.e., swimming speed, drag and the manipulation of stroke rate) following a physical approach.

Kinematic and electromyography characteristics of performing butterfly stroke with different swimming speeds in flow environment

Objective

To investigate effect of flow speeds on the upper limb muscular activity of butterfly swimmers training in a flow environment. A comparison of kinematic characteristics and muscular activity of upper limbs were made when the swimmers training with different flow speeds in a swimming flume. The purpose was to provide a basis for scientifically formulating special swimming training advice for athletes' training in flow environment.

Methods

Ten youth female butterfly swimmers participated in the study with the speed of 70%, 80%, and 90% level of their max speeds. A stroke cycle was divided into four phases (entry, pull, push, and recovery). The kinematic parameters of upper limbs (stroke rate, stroke length, duration of each phase in a stroke cycle) and muscular activity (onset timing, integrated electromyography (iEMG), contribution ratio) of four muscles (Biceps brachii (BB), Triceps brachii (TB), Pectoralis major (PM), and Latissimus dorsi (LD)) were collected and analyzed in different stroke phases.

Results

There was no significant difference between stroke rate and stroke length with different flow speeds. There were significant differences among the duration of the four stroke phases. The entry phase had the longest duration, the pull phase had the shortest duration, the push phase was longer than the recovery phase, and the recovery phase was shorter than the entry phase. The BB and PM were activated significantly earlier at 90% of target speed than at 80% of target speed, while the TB was activated significantly later than other two speeds. The muscular contribution ratio of the PM was highest in the pull phase and lowest in the pushing phase. The muscular contribution ratio of the BB was significantly lower in the pushing phase than in other three stroke phases. The muscular contribution of the TB was significantly higher in the recovery phase than in other three stroke phases. The muscular contribution ratio of the LD was highest in the pushing phase, and it was significantly higher in pushing phase and recovery phase than in pull phase.

Conclusions

(1) When butterfly athletes training with 70%, 80% and 90% of their max speed in a flow environment, it didn't make significant differences between the kinematic or muscle activation characteristics of the upper limbs movement except the muscle onset timing. (2) Stroke phase was the main factor of the duration and the muscle contribution ratio during butterfly arm stroke for young athletes.

Dribble Accuracy and Arm Coordination Pattern According to Motor Expertise and Tempo

Skilled movements in motor learning result from efficiently controlling the many degrees of freedom in human movement. To acquire motor skills, harmonious coordination of body segments in time and space is crucial for accurate and consistent performance. The purpose of this study was to compare dribbling accuracy, consistency, and coordination patterns of body segments according to motor expertise and tempo. To achieve this, we had eight basketball experts and eight beginners perform static dribbling at three different speeds for 20 s. Force plates measured radial error while motion capture equipment measured the angular data of the right arm's fingers, wrist, and elbow. The measurements obtained from the force plate were used to analyze the participants' dribbling performance, including accuracy, consistency, and coordination patterns. The research results showed that there was no significant difference in dribbling accuracy according to skill level, but skilled players showed higher consistency in the anterior-posterior (AP) direction (p < 0.001). In the comparative analysis of coordination patterns, skilled players showed an in-phase structure, whereas beginners showed an anti-phase structure (elbow-wrist: p < 0.05; wrist-finger: p < 0.001; elbow-finger: p < 0.001). This study suggests that achieving proficiency in basketball dribbling requires a strategy that involves coordination of movements with an in-phase pattern for stability in performance.

Reliability and Validity of a Flume-Based Maximal Oxygen Uptake Swimming Test

A mode-specific swimming protocol to assess maximal aerobic uptake (VO₂max_sw) is vital to accurately evaluate swimming performance. A need exists for reliable and valid swimming protocols that assess VO₂max_sw in a flume environment. The purpose was to assess: (a) reliability and (b) "performance" validity of a VO₂max_sw flume protocol using the 457-m freestyle pool performance swim (PS) test as the criterion. Nineteen males (n = 9) and females (n = 10) (age, 28.5 ± 8.3 years.; height, 174.7 ± 8.2 cm; mass, 72.9 ± 12.5 kg; %body fat, 21.4 ± 5.9) performed two flume VO₂max_sw tests (VO₂max_swA and VO₂max_swB) and one PS test [457 m (469.4 ± 94.7 s)]. For test-retest reliability (Trials A vs. B), moderately strong relationships were established for VO₂max_sw (mL·kg^-1·min^-1)(r= 0.628, p = 0.002), O₂pulse (mL O₂·beat^-1)(r = 0.502, p = 0.014), VEmax (L·min^-1) (r = 0.671, p = 0.001), final test time (sec) (0.608, p = 0.004), and immediate post-test blood lactate (IPE (BLa)) (0.716, p = 0.001). For performance validity, moderately strong relationships (p < 0.05) were found between VO₂max_swA (r =-0.648, p = 0.005), O₂pulse (r= -0.623, p = 0.008), VEmax (r = -0.509 p = 0.037), and 457-m swim times. The swimming flume protocol examined is a reliable and valid assessment of VO₂max_sw., and offers an alternative for military, open water, or those seeking complementary forms of training to improve swimming performance.

Front crawl swimming coordination: a systematic review

Several constraints, including environmental (e.g., aquatic resistance, temperature and viscosity), organismic (e.g., anthropometry, buoyancy) and task-related (e.g., imposed swim speed or stroke rate) impact motor coordination and swimming performance. As motor coordination requires structurally organising intra- and inter-limb coupling, the purpose of this review was to update the literature concerning coordination between the upper-limbs in front crawl swimming. We focused on the effects of biomechanical, physiological, and personal (gender, skill level, and age) factors on coordination and performance. In fact, it could be highlighted that upper-limbs coordination varies with organismic, task and environmental constraints, resulting in several available motor solutions that should be adopted according to how each swimmer deals with occurring constraints. As such, there is no ideal or optimal coordination pattern that youth, learners and less-skilled swimmers should imitate.

Adaptability in Swimming Pattern: How Propulsive Action Is Modified as a Function of Speed and Skill

The objectives of this study were to identify how spatiotemporal, kinetic, and kinematic parameters could (i) characterize swimmers' adaptability to different swimming speeds and (ii) discriminate expertise level among swimmers. Twenty male participants, grouped into (a) low-, (b) medium-, and (c) high-expertise levels, swam at four different swim paces of 70, 80, 90% (for 20 s), and 100% (for 10 s) of their maximal speed in a swimming flume. We hypothesized that (i) to swim faster, swimmers increase both propulsion time and the overall force impulse during a swimming cycle; (ii) in the frequency domain, expert swimmers are able to maintain the relative contribution of the main harmonics to the overall force spectrum. We used three underwater video cameras to derive stroking parameters [stroke rate (SR), stroke length (SL), stroke index (SI)]. Force sensors placed on the hands were used to compute kinetic parameters, in conjunction with video data. Parametric statistics examined speed and expertise effects. Results showed that swimmers shared similarities across expertise levels to increase swim speed: SR, the percentage of time devoted to propulsion within a cycle, and the index of coordination (IdC) increased significantly. In contrast, the force impulse (I ⁺) generated by the hand during propulsion remained constant. Only the high-expertise group showed modification in the spectral content of its force distribution at high SR. Examination of stroking parameters showed that only high-expertise swimmers exhibited higher values of both SL and SI and that the low- and high-expertise groups exhibited similar IdC and even higher magnitude in I ⁺. In conclusion, all swimmers exhibit adaptable behavior to change swim pace when required. However, high-skilled swimming is characterized by broader functional adaptation in force parameters.