AN EXAMINATION OF INTRAROWER COORDINATION MOVEMENT COUPLING

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to identify the coupling relationships between body segments joint angles created in completion of the rowing stroke. A dynamical systems approach utilising continuous relative phase was used to investigate the higher order dynamics of the movement. Five rowers (1 experienced, 4 novice) completed a 2000m row on a RowPerfect ergometer; the kinematics of which were captured using a 200Hz motion analysis system. The results indicate that purely upper limb, and one joint upperone joint lower limb coupling, show much larger variation than purely lower limb coupling. In particular the knee-elbow coupling relationship differs dramatically between the experienced rower and novices. From a practical viewpoint this coupling relationship should be focused upon to improve the rowing ability of the novice.