title: Coordination in arm movements during crawl stroke in elite swimmers with a loco-motor disability.
abstract: The purpose of this study was to investigate selected kinematics parameters of the arm stroke in crawl swimmers with disabilities and to examine the potential use of an index of arm coordination (IdC) to evaluate the stroking technique of swimmers with diverse functional abilities. The degree of overlap in the propulsive phases (superposition model) and lag time between the propulsive phases (catch-up model) was examined in 18 well-trained swimmers with loco-motor disabilities, 9 females and 9 males, from functional classes S3-S10 with S10 being most functional. Based on the results, correct coordination appears to be fundamental to swimming crawl stroke in both able-bodied swimmers as well as swimmers with a disability. Some swimmers with disabilities examined here exhibited extreme values at both ends of the index scale. This might be essential to maintaining balance while swimming when not all limb activity contributes to the forward movement.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Sport Performance Management, Faculty of Sports Technologies and Tourism, Lithuanian Academy of Physical Education, Sporto 6, 3000 Kaunas, Lithuania.
authors.forename: Danguole
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Satkunskiene
authors.forename: Lutz
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Schega
authors.forename: Katrin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kunze
authors.forename: Kristina
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Birzinyte
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Daly
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001132:Arm / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008124:Locomotion / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D009069:Movement Disorders / Q000503:physiopathology*; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology*; D013550:Swimming