On-water Rowing Biomechanical Assessment : A Systematic Scoping Review

Background Biomechanical parameters can distinguish a skilled rower from a less skilled rower and can provide coaches with meaningful feedback and objective evidence to inform coaching practices on rowing technique. There- fore, it is critical to understand which technical characteristics can be related to the fundamental rowing performance indicators. The aim of this systematic scoping review was to describe the current focus and density of rowing biome- chanics research specific to on-water rowing and provide a guide for practitioners and researchers on future direc- tions for on-water rowing biomechanics research.
Methods All peer-reviewed publications involving the on-water assessment of rowing biomechanics were reviewed from four databases (SPORTDiscus, PubMed, Sage online journals, and Web of Science). Search results returned 1659 records, of which 27 studies met the inclusion criteria for the review.
Results All reported variables were collated and summarised according to the three main measurements of basic mechanics: time, space and force. Study characteristics were collated to provide a descriptive overview of the litera- ture. The main categorical variables included time, distance, velocity, acceleration, force, power and crew synchrony.
Conclusion Data extraction revealed gate force, horizontal oar angle and boat velocity as the most reported vari- ables with numerous subcategories of metrics within each measure. A framework to help guide and standardise on- water rowing biomechanical assessment and the establishment of standards for environmental data collection could help guide practitioners and researchers in the on-water rowing environment. This scoping review was registered
on the Open Science Framework (https://osf.io/8q5vw/).

This scoping review was registered on the Open Science Framework (https://osf.io/8q5vw/).

© The Author(s) 2024.

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