Abstract
The intent of this project was to explore the feasibility of personalising the paddle blade size for individual flatwater kayakers based on their power output profiles. Twelve elite male kayakers performed on a kayak ergometer at the same intensity and resistance that they would normally experience while paddling at race pace for 500 m on the water. The kayak ergometer was instrumented so that power profiles could be determined from the instantaneous force and velocity of the representative centre point of the paddle blade. From the power profile information, the researchers calculated a personalised blade size that was expected to improve performance for those kayakers differing more than 5% from the calculated ‘ideal’ size. For the elite kayakers studied, it was recommended that seven of the paddlers should increase their blade size by approximately 5–10%. For the remaining five paddlers, the results indicated that their current blade sizes were within the expected measurement error of their predicted ideal value and should be retained. It is anticipated that this research will provide the theoretical rationale for elite kayakers to see the need to personalise their blade size based on their own muscle power profiles.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Aitken, D., & Neal, R. (1992) An on-water analysis system for quantifying stroke force characteristics during kayak events.International Journal of Sport Biomechanics,8, 165–173.
Dal Monte, A., & Leonardi, L. (1976) Functional evaluation of kayak paddlers from biomechanical and physiological viewpoints. In:Biomechanics V-B. (ed: Komi, P.), International Series on Biomechanics, Vol. 1B. University Park Press, Baltimore, pp 258–270.
Edgerton, V., Roy, R., Gregor, R., & Rugg, S. (1986) Morphological basis of skeletal muscle power output. In:Human Muscle Power (eds: Jones, N., McCartney, N., & McComas, A.). Human Kinetic Publishers, Champaign, Il. pp 43–64.
Faulkner, J., Clafin, D., & McCully, K. (1986) Power output of fast and slow fibers from human skeletal muscles. In:Human Muscle Power (eds: Jones, N., McCartney, N., & McComas, A.). Human Kinetic Publishers, Champaign, Il. pp 81–94.
Hull, M., Gonzalez, H., & Redfield, R. (1988) Optimization of pedaling rate in cycling using a muscle stress-based objective function.International Journal of Sport Biomechanics,4, 1–20.
Kendal, S., & Sanders, R. (1992) The technique of elite flatwater kayak paddlers using the wing paddle.International Journal of Sport Biomechanics,8, 233–250.
Mann, R., & Kearney, J. (1980) A biomechanical analysis of the Olympic style flatwater kayak stroke.Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise,12, 183–188.
Plagenhoef, S. (1979) Biomechanical analysis of Olympic flatwater kayaking and canoeing.The Research Quarterly,50, 443–459.
Sumner, D., Sprigings, E., Bugg, J., & Heseltine, J. (2003) Fluid forces on kayak paddle blades of different design.Sports Engineering,6, 11–20.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Sprigings, E., McNair, P., Mawston, G. et al. A method for personalising the blade size for competitors in flatwater kayaking. Sports Eng 9, 147–153 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02844116
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02844116