The influence of skating velocity on the short track relay exchange

Using Inertial measurement units

Master thesis (2020)

Authors

R.W. Rademakers Mechanical Engineering

Contributors

H.E.J. Veeger Biomechanical Engineering (supervisor 1)
Faculty
Mechanical Engineering
Copyright: © 2020 Roeland Rademakers
Relay Short track Relay exchange
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Published Date

08-12-2020

Language

English

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Faculty

Mechanical Engineering

Abstract

The relay in short track skating is a team effort with the possibility to regain strength during the race by performing an exchange with a team member. Couples can gain time and conserve kinetic energy with a well performed exchange. However, the exchange is a difficult operation. With few studies done to find out what makes a good relay exchange, the exchange is rather based on experience than on knowledge. Former studies investigated the kinetic energy efficiency and the straight time with and without exchanging to find positive and negative influencing factors. To study the influence of skating velocity on relay efficiency, both the Dutch National short track team and RTC North participated in a test setup. Two inertial measurement units, worn in a waist belt during the relay training exercises, provided acceleration data during the relay exchange. The acceleration data from both the pushed and pushing skater were studied to find out what the influence of the skating velocity is on the performance of the exchange. Horizontal accelerations of the pushing and pushed skater were transferred into total horizontal forces with the difference between these total horizontal forces (DF) deemed as an efficiency value for the relay push. A weak positive correlation is found between: DF and the skating velocity of the pushed skater and the deceleration of the pushing skater and the skating velocity of the pushed skater. Camera images revealed the accelerations of the pushed skater to be a combination of the exchange push and the first stride, with no distinction visible between them in the corresponding acceleration data. The influence of the first stride is unknown, making the acceleration data difficult to interpret.