Relationship between fluid force, pressure distribution, and hand kinematics during swimming

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to verify the utility of the methodology using the pressure distribution analysis and motion capture system that can measure the pressure distribution, the fluid forces, and the hand kinematics. A male swimmer participated in the study, and imitated the front crawl stroke motion at standing position with changing the stroke patterns and the stroke speeds. During trials, six pressure sensors were attached at swimmer's right hand to measure the pressure distributions around the hand, and to estimate the fluid forces acting on the hand. And five reflecting markers were attached at right hand to analyze the hand kinematics by using the motion capture system (Opus Underwater, Qualisys). As results, the hand velocities significantly correlated with the pressure values and the fluid forces (r = 0.76-0.99, p < 0.05). And the hand acceleration significantly correlated with the pressure valued at dorsal side (r = −0.74-−0.76, p < 0.05). These results suggest that the unsteady flow occurred at dorsal side of hand and increased the fluid forces.