title: Reliability of tethered swimming evaluation in age group swimmers.
abstract: The aim of the present study was to examine the reliability of tethered swimming in the evaluation of age group swimmers. The sample was composed of 8 male national level swimmers with at least 4 years of experience in competitive swimming. Each swimmer performed two 30 second maximal intensity tethered swimming tests, on separate days. Individual force-time curves were registered to assess maximum force, mean force and the mean impulse of force. Both consistency and reliability were very strong, with Cronbach's Alpha values ranging from 0.970 to 0.995. All the applied metrics presented a very high agreement between tests, with the mean impulse of force presenting the highest. These results indicate that tethered swimming can be used to evaluate age group swimmers. Furthermore, better comprehension of the swimmers ability to effectively exert force in the water can be obtained using the impulse of force.
authors.affiliation: Research Centre for Human Movement Sciences, Polytechnic Institute of Leiria, Leiria, Portugal. ; Research Centre in Sports Sciences, Health and Human Development, Covilhã, Portugal.
authors.forename: Nuno
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Amaro
authors.affiliation: Research Centre in Sports Sciences, Health and Human Development, Covilhã, Portugal. ; University of Beira Interior, Covilhã, Portugal.
authors.forename: Daniel A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Marinho
authors.affiliation: Research Centre in Sports Sciences, Health and Human Development, Covilhã, Portugal. ; University of Évora, Évora, Portugal.
authors.forename: Nuno
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Batalha
authors.affiliation: Research Centre in Sports Sciences, Health and Human Development, Covilhã, Portugal. ; University of Beira Interior, Covilhã, Portugal.
authors.forename: Mário C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Marques
authors.affiliation: Research Centre for Human Movement Sciences, Polytechnic Institute of Leiria, Leiria, Portugal. ; Centre for Rapid and Sustainable Product Development, Polytechnic Institute of Leiria, Leiria, Portugal.
authors.forename: Pedro
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Morouço
keywords: front crawl; propulsive force; swimming; training and testing
references.citation: Pediatr Exerc Sci. 2012 May;24(2):312-21
references.pmid: 22728420
references.citation: J Strength Cond Res. 2007 May;21(2):599-605
references.pmid: 17530963
references.citation: Sports Med. 1986 May-Jun;3(3):165-89
references.pmid: 3520747
references.citation: J Appl Biomech. 2011 May;27(2):161-9
references.pmid: 21576725
references.citation: J Strength Cond Res. 2014 Nov;28(11):3093-9
references.pmid: 24796981
references.citation: J Hum Kinet. 2011 Sep;29A:105-12
references.pmid: 23486734
references.citation: J Appl Biomech. 2011 Feb;27(1):74-80
references.pmid: 21451185
references.citation: J Sci Med Sport. 2010 Mar;13(2):262-9
references.pmid: 19409842
references.citation: Int J Sports Med. 2013 Feb;34(2):123-30
references.pmid: 22972251
references.citation: J Biomech. 1981;14(8):527-37
references.pmid: 7276012
references.citation: Res Q. 1970 Mar;41(1):68-74
references.pmid: 5266496