This study analyzes stroke phases and arm and leg coordination during front crawl
swimming as a function of swim velocity and performance level. Forty-three swimmers
constituted three groups based on performance level. All swam at three different swim
velocities, corresponding to the paces appropriate for the 800 m, 100 m, and 50 m.
The different stroke phases and the arm and leg coordination were identified by video
analysis. Arm coordination was quantified using a new index of coordination (IdC),
which expresses the three major modalities opposition, catch-up and superposition.
Opposition, where one arm begins the pull phase when the other is finishing the push
phase; catch up, which has a lag time (LT) between propulsive phases of the two arms;
and superposition, which describes an overlap in the propulsive phases. The IdC is
an index which characterizes coordination patterns by measure of LT between propulsive
phases of each arm. The most important results showed that duration of the propulsive
phases (B + C) increased significantly with increasing velocity: 43.1 ± 3.3 % for
V800; 46.5 ± 3 % for V100 and 49 ± 3 % for V50. The arm and leg synchronization was
modified in the sense of an increase in six-beat kick. The IdC increased significantly
with velocity: IdCV800 = - 7.6 ± 6.4 %; IdCV100 = - 3.2 ± 5.1 % and IdCV50 = - 0.9 ± 5.6
%. IdC increased also significantly with performance level: IdCG3 = - 6.07 ± 5.3 %;
IdCG2 = - 3.9 ± 4.2 % and IdCG1 = - 1.76 ± 5.6 % for the mean of the 3 velocity. The
two extreme IdC were IdCG3V800 = - 9.4 ± 5.4 % and IdCG1V50 = + 2.53 ± 4.4 %.
Key words:
Motor coordination - biomechanics - performance - crawl - swimming
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Ph.D. Pr. Didier Chollet
Faculté des Sciences du Sport Université de Montpellier
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