THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THE GOGGLES TRAINING SYSTEM AS A COACHING TOOL IN CHANGING PELVIS ANGLE AT THE CATCH DURING ON WATER ROWING

Abstract

The body positions and repetitive action of rowing may predispose a rower to low back injury. This project aimed to identify the immediate. and training, effects of visual feedback on lumbo-pelvic angle during one minute of on-water rowing. Visual feedback was provided through the Goggles Training System (GTS,TM) for eight NZ national rowers. Pre- and post-training testing consisted of four one minute rowing trials at 28 strokes per minute with: A) No goggles & no instruction; B) Goggles & no instruction; C) No goggles & instruction; and D) Goggles & instruction. Repeated measures ANOVA showed no significant differences for ensembled averages for lumbo-pelvic angle. The GTS,TM, significantly-,reduced lumbo-pelvic angle for some rowers. The results support further use of the GTS,TM as a tool for improving rowing technique and preventing low back injury.