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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Sports Act. Living
Sec. Biomechanics and Control of Human Movement
Volume 6 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fspor.2024.1519232
This article is part of the Research Topic Advancing Performance: Biomechanics in Paralympic and Adapted Sports View all articles

Standardised activities in Wheelchair Rugby, comparison between athletes with coordination impairment and athletes with other impairments

Provisionally accepted
Viola C. Altmann Viola C. Altmann 1,2,3*Mariska Janssen Mariska Janssen 1,4Johanna L.J. de Wit Johanna L.J. de Wit 1Rienk M.A. Van Der Slikke Rienk M.A. Van Der Slikke 3,5,6
  • 1 Klimmendaal Rehabilitation Specialists, Arnhem, Netherlands
  • 2 World Wheelchair Rugby, Etoy, Switzerland
  • 3 Peter Harrison Centre for Disability Sport, School of Sport, Exercise, and Health Sciences, Loughborough University, Loughborough, England, United Kingdom
  • 4 Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University, Nijmegen, Netherlands
  • 5 The Hague University of Applied Sciences, The Hague, Netherlands
  • 6 Delft University of Technology, Delft, Netherlands

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Introduction: To determine if athletes with coordination impairment (CI) can continue playing wheelchair rugby (WR), while an evidence-based classification system, including impairment tests for CI is not yet available. This is a defensible practise if they show similar activity limitations as athletes with other eligible impairment types (OI) within the same sports class. Methods: Standardised activities were measured in 58 elite WR athletes; 14 with CI and 44 with OI. Wheelchair activities consisted of 20-meter sprint, 12-meter sprint with full stop, intermittent sprint (3-meter sprint, stop, 3-meter sprint, stop, 6-meter sprint with full stop), sprint-curve-slalom-curve, turn on the spot 180°, turn on the spot 90°, stop, turn 90°in the same direction, X-test (short circuit with sharp turns) without the ball. Ball activities consisted of maximal throwing distance, precision throwing short (25% of maximum throw) and long (75% of maximal throw) distance and X-test with the ball (pick-up the ball and dribble whilst pushing). Descriptive statistics were used and Spearman’s Rank correlation was assessed for athletes with CI and OI for each outcome measure. Differences between athletes with CI and OI were assessed using a Mann-Whitney U test. Results: Most activities showed a high correlation with the athlete class in both athletes with CI and athletes with OI. Furthermore, outcome measures of athletes with CI overlapped with athletes with OI in the same sports class for all activities. There was a trend for worse performance in athletes with CI in turn on the spot 90°, stop, turn 90°in the same direction, the short distance one handed precision throw (P 0.11)and in the X-test with the ball (P 0.10). Discussion: Despite the current lack of evidence based impairment tests for CI, it is a defensible practise to not exclude athletes with CI from WR with the current classification system. The trends for differences in performance that were found can support athletes and coaches in optimising performance of athletes with CI.

    Keywords: ball activities, Cerebral Palsy, Classification, Coordination impairment, Paralympics, wheelchair activities, Wheelchair rugby, Wheelchair sport

    Received: 29 Oct 2024; Accepted: 20 Dec 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Altmann, Janssen, de Wit and Van Der Slikke. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Viola C. Altmann, Klimmendaal Rehabilitation Specialists, Arnhem, 6800, Netherlands

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