Author(s): FRONTUTO, C., BONAIUTO, V. , Institution: UNIVERSITÀ DI ROMA TOR VERGATA, Country: ITALY, Abstract-ID: 2369

INTRODUCTION:
In recent years, there has been a growing interest in Paralympic sports, aiming to ensure fair competition through a system that evaluates athletes residual abilities. According to the current classification present in Paralympic Water Polo (1), the lowest score is given to athletes who are unable to perform movements with their hands, so the study focused on the most typical movement in Water Polo that involves the use of at least one hand, i.e. shooting (2).
METHODS:
The study was conducted on 5 subjects of which 4 belonged to a Paralympic team, with different types of disabilities, and 1 competitive athlete belonging to a water polo team with no degree of disability for data comparison. Two IMU sensors synchronized with each other (Movella DOT, 120Hz) were placed on the body of the athletes. One sensor on the forearm to monitor degrees of movement (ROM) of the dominant upper limb during shooting, and one at the C7 vertebra to derive information on torso rotation (3). Athletes were asked to perform 7 shots at 5 m from the goal with the purpose of hitting a target. Two GoPro cameras (240 Hz) filmed aligned to the athletes shooting position from side and rear perspectives, to determine the height of the ball during the shot (instant of release) on the water surface. Kinovea free-license software was used for video analysis.
RESULTS:
The average values of player 5 were taken as a reference, which were trunk rotation of 60°, a forearm angle of 80° and a shooting height of 1.25m. It was considered the best performance of each Paralympic athlete. In terms of ROM of the dominant upper limb, athlete 1 had no limitation, athletes 2 and 3 had a limitation of 5°, and athlete 4 of 3°. Athlete 1 showed a limited trunk rotation of 20° and a lower shot height of 54.4%. Athlete 2 had a limitation of 10° in torso rotation, and a 48% lower jump height. Athlete 3 had no limitation in torso rotation, and a 51.2% lower jump height. Athlete 4 performed 6° less torso rotation, and 52.8% lower jump height.
CONCLUSION:
This preliminary study showed how the proposed assessment system using inertial sensors can detect the residual abilities of Paralympic athletes in specific sports actions. Subsequent studies on a large number of subjects could allow percentile tables and reference values to be drawn up, so as to provide an aid to classifiers of a more fair and objective classification.
REFERENCES:
1) Italian Swimming Paralympic Federation, CLASSIFICATION RULES WATER POLO DISCIPLINE, 2022
2) Marion A. et al., Sport Biomechanics Lab, 2010
3) Tupling, S. G. et al., Med. Biol. Eng. Comput. 1987