Assessment of the stability of the movement pattern of canoe paddlers based on amplitude-time analysis of muscle electromyography profiles

The aim of teaching the canoeing technique is to develop effective motor patterns ensuring the stability and reliability of the results regardless of the conditions for movement realization. The paper presents an algorithm for automated assessment of the stability of the motor pattern of canoe paddlers based on the amplitude-time analysis of muscle electromyography profiles. New diagnostic indicators of physical and technical readiness of canoeing paddlers have been proposed: the coefficient of stability of the muscle activity and the coefficient of stability of the temporal structure of the stroke. The studies of the stability of the motor pattern of first class canoe paddlers ( n = 16) have been carried out under different conditions of movements using the paddling ergometer: covering a distance of 250 m with maximum power of movements (test 1) and covering a distance of 250 m with maximum pace of movements (test 2). It has been found that first class canoe paddlers are characterized by a high stability of the muscular activity (on average more than 86 %) and high stability of the temporal structure of strokes (more than 93 %), regardless of the power and pace of movements. Moreover, the research has revealed a tendency for increase in the stability of muscular activity of the paddlers with increasing training experience ( r = 0,70 for the mode of maximum power of movements, r = 0,73 for the mode of maximum pace of movements).