A system to measure the kinematics, kinetics and effort of dragon boat paddling

The aim of this project was to develop asystem to measure the kinematics, kinetics and effort of dragonboatpaddling. Adragonboat seat simulator was developed and mounted to a marina pontoon to reproduce the boat seat paddling geometry relative to the water for stationary paddling. Video cameras, placed in appropriate locations on the pontoon, recorded the 3 dimensional movements of paddlers. A custom built strain gauged paddle measured the paddling forces. Effort was measured via a heart rate monitor and breathing pattern transducer. Electronic interfacing fed the analogue signals (paddling forces, heart rate and breathing pattern) along with the video synchronisation signal to the laptop data collection system. Data for 6 test subjects of different gender, age and skill level (club to international) are reported for a 30 second maximum effort stationary paddling test along with in-boatpaddling forces for 2 senior international level paddlers obtained under simulated dragonboat racing conditions