The aims of this thesis were to identify opportunities to improve the measurement of ergometer rowing through instrumentation of the ergometer, and investigate if such measurements had a potential to predict other variables. It was hypothesised that measurements describing rowing technique, measured in three-dimensional space, could be predicted from those that can be measured using less complex methods. The kinematic measurements that describe rowing technique normally require complicated and expensive systems featuring motion tracking and force measurements. Establishing any relationships would allow for assessment of an athlete’s technique to be made with less complex equipment, allowing more individuals to assess quality of their movement with respect to the performance predictors suggested in the rowing research literature.
A novel opportunity to measure kinematics of the rowing ergometer was found, and consequently a device to measure the motion of the ergometer seat was designed and integrated into a kinematic and kinetic measurement system.
14 elite athletes completed a protocol of increasing intensity. For the first time, the motion of the ergometer seat was measured simultaneously with full three-dimensional kinematics and kinetics of the rowing activity. The key finding of this study was that a combination of measurements on the instrumented ergometer could predict to an accuracy of 2° and 60mm, kinematic and kinetic measures that normally require instrumentation of the athlete, and have been shown to be predictors of performance.
The results of this work indicate that predictions of kinematic measurements during ergometer rowing that would normally require direct measurement with complicated and sensitive equipment can be made using ergometer instrumentation alone. Thus measurements that are relatively simple to acquire compared to 3D kinematics and motion capture equipment, via instrumentation of a rowing ergometer or even of a rowing boat on water could be used as a biofeedback tool to improve quality of movement of the rowing population. Flexion and extension of the lumbar spine, translation of the lumbar spine and predictions of discrete timing points of the rowing stroke can be anticipated using such a system. While the exact predictive relationships developed are subject to the limitations of the study, the predictive capacity of the relationship between 3D kinematic variables and those measured using an instrumented ergometer has been demonstrated. These relationships provide vastly more information that would otherwise be available to those without human motion capture equipment, and thus this work has signposted future research and a potential to improve the technique, performance and enjoyment of the sport of rowing.
The consequence of this work is that the biofeedback systems, and understanding of the rowing stroke developed by rowing biomechanists in past literature may be made more accessible and utilised by a wider population of rowers. An instrumented ergometer and the developed relationships can quantify aspects of rowing coaching, increasing the accessibility to assessing rowing technique, identify opportunities for improvement, suggestions of methods to make such improvements and continuously assessing the effectiveness of this process and informing longitudinal maintenance of these improvements.