Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study was to determine kinematic and energetic differences between front crawl and backstroke performed at the same aerobic speeds.
Methods
Ten male competitive swimmers performed front crawl and backstroke at a pre-determined sub-anaerobic threshold speed to assess energy cost (through oxygen uptake measurement) and kinematics (using three-dimensional videography to determine stroke frequency and length, intra-cycle velocity fluctuation, three-dimensional wrist and ankle speeds, and vertical and lateral ankle range of motion). For detailed kinematic analysis, resultant displacement, the duration, and three-dimensional speed of the wrist during the entry, pull, push, and release phases were also investigated.
Results
There were no differences in stroke frequency/length and intra-cycle velocity fluctuation between the swimming techniques, however, swimmers had lower energy cost in front crawl than in backstroke (0.77 ± 0.08 vs 0.91 ± 0.12 kJ m−1, p < 0.01). Slower three-dimensional wrist and ankle speeds under the water (1.29 ± 0.10 vs 1.55 ± 0.10 and 0.80 ± 0.16 vs 0.97 ± 0.13 m s−1, both p < 0.01) and smaller ankle vertical range of motion (0.36 ± 0.06 vs 0.47 ± 0.07 m, p < 0.01) in front crawl than in backstroke were also observed, which indirectly suggested higher propulsive efficiency in front crawl.
Conclusion
Front crawl is less costly than backstroke, and limbs motion in front crawl is more effective than in backstroke.
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Abbreviations
- 3Duankle :
-
Three-dimensional ankle speed in relation to the speed of centre of mass
- 3Duwrist :
-
Three-dimensional wrist speed in relation to the speed of centre of mass
- AnT:
-
Anaerobic threshold
- C :
-
Energy cost
- COM:
-
Centre of mass
- CV:
-
Coefficient of variation
- IVfluc :
-
Intracycle velocity fluctuation
- ROM:
-
Range of motion
- SF:
-
Stroke frequency
- SL:
-
Stroke length
- vAnT:
-
Swimming speed at anaerobic threshold intensity
- v COM :
-
Mean speed of the centre of mass during the upper limb cycle
- v inst :
-
Instructed speed
- v S :
-
Mean swimming speed during the whole testing
- \(\dot {V}{{\text{O}}_2}\) :
-
Oxygen uptake
- W int :
-
Internal work
- η F :
-
Froude efficiency
- η O :
-
Overall efficiency
- η P :
-
Propelling efficiency
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Funding
This work was supported by YAMAHA Motor Foundation for Sports (YMFS) International Sport Scholarship.
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TG, CM, and RS conceived and designed research. TG, AS, JR, RF, and JV conducted data collection including protocol adjustment, participant recruitment, and testing. TG analysed data. TG wrote the manuscript. All authors read and approved the manuscript.
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Communicated by Jean-René Lacour.
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Gonjo, T., McCabe, C., Sousa, A. et al. Differences in kinematics and energy cost between front crawl and backstroke below the anaerobic threshold. Eur J Appl Physiol 118, 1107–1118 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00421-018-3841-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00421-018-3841-z