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. 2024 Sep 27;10(1):101.
doi: 10.1186/s40798-024-00760-2.

On-water Rowing Biomechanical Assessment: A Systematic Scoping Review

Natalie Legge  1   2 , Conny Draper  3 , Katie Slattery  4   5 , Damien O'Meara  6 , Mark Watsford  4   5
Affiliations

On-water Rowing Biomechanical Assessment: A Systematic Scoping Review

Natalie Legge et al. Sports Med Open. .

Abstract

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. Therefore, 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 biomechanics research specific to on-water rowing and provide a guide for practitioners and researchers on future directions 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 literature. 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 variables 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/ ).

Keywords: Biomechanics; On-water environment; Performance; Rowing; Technique.

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Conflict of interest statement

Natalie Legge, Conny Draper, Damien O’Meara, Mark Watsford, and Katie Slattery declare that they have no competing interests relevant to the content of this article.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
PRISMA flowchart of the literature search and screening process
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Number of on-water rowing biomechanics publications by year (Cumulative publications – black line)
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Heat Map of Biomechanical Variables Reported in the Literature for On-water Rowing
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Temporal Profiles per stroke – Boat Acceleration, Boat Velocity, Gate Angle, Gate Force & Stretcher Force
Fig. 5
Fig. 5
Gate & Stretcher Forces in a Single Scull
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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