{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,11]],"date-time":"2026-06-11T02:25:33Z","timestamp":1781144733561,"version":"3.54.1"},"reference-count":41,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"21","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2022,11,6]],"date-time":"2022-11-06T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1667692800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100001871","name":"FCT\u2014Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["UIDB\/DTP\/04045\/2020"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["UIDB\/DTP\/04045\/2020"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100001871","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Sensors"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Understanding the difference in each upper limb between age groups can provide deeper insights into swimmers\u2019 propulsion. This study aimed to: (1) compare swimming velocity and a set of kinematical variables between junior and juvenile swimmers and (2) compare the propulsion outputs through discrete and continuous analyses (Statistical Parametric Mapping\u2014SPM) between junior and juvenile swimmers for each upper limb (i.e., dominant and non-dominant). The sample was composed of 22 male swimmers (12 juniors with 16.35 \u00b1 0.74 years; 10 juveniles with 15.40 \u00b1 0.32 years). A set of kinematic and propulsion variables was measured at maximum swimming velocity. Statistical Parametric Mapping was used as a continuous analysis approach to identify differences in the propulsion of both upper limbs between junior and juvenile swimmers. Junior swimmers were significantly faster than juveniles (p = 0.04, d = 0.86). Although juniors showed higher propulsion values, the SPM did not reveal significant differences (p &lt; 0.05) for dominant and non-dominant upper limbs between the two age groups. This indicates that other factors (such as drag) may be responsible for the difference in swimming velocity. Coaches and swimmers should be aware that an increase in propulsion alone may not immediately lead to an increase in swimming velocity.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/s22218549","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2022,11,7]],"date-time":"2022-11-07T03:02:22Z","timestamp":1667790142000},"page":"8549","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":14,"title":["Using Statistical Parametric Mapping to Compare the Propulsion of Age-Group Swimmers in Front Crawl Acquired with the Aquanex System"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"22","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-6885-0648","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Jorge E.","family":"Morais","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Research Center in Sports, Health and Human Development (CIDESD), University of Beira Interior, 6201-001 Covilh\u00e3, Portugal"},{"name":"Department of Sport Sciences, Instituto Polit\u00e9cnico de Bragan\u00e7a, 5300-252 Bragan\u00e7a, Portugal"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2351-3047","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Daniel A.","family":"Marinho","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Research Center in Sports, Health and Human Development (CIDESD), University of Beira Interior, 6201-001 Covilh\u00e3, Portugal"},{"name":"Department of Sport Sciences, University of Beira Interior, 6201-001 Covilh\u00e3, Portugal"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-7252-0599","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Jo\u00e3o P.","family":"Oliveira","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Research Center in Sports, Health and Human Development (CIDESD), University of Beira Interior, 6201-001 Covilh\u00e3, Portugal"},{"name":"Department of Sport Sciences, Instituto Polit\u00e9cnico de Bragan\u00e7a, 5300-252 Bragan\u00e7a, Portugal"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-5694-1457","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Tatiana","family":"Sampaio","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Research Center in Sports, Health and Human Development (CIDESD), University of Beira Interior, 6201-001 Covilh\u00e3, Portugal"},{"name":"Department of Sport Sciences, Instituto Polit\u00e9cnico de Bragan\u00e7a, 5300-252 Bragan\u00e7a, Portugal"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6627-1522","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Tiago","family":"Lopes","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Research Center in Sports, Health and Human Development (CIDESD), University of Beira Interior, 6201-001 Covilh\u00e3, Portugal"},{"name":"Department of Sport Sciences, University of Beira Interior, 6201-001 Covilh\u00e3, Portugal"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-7071-2116","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Tiago M.","family":"Barbosa","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Research Center in Sports, Health and Human Development (CIDESD), University of Beira Interior, 6201-001 Covilh\u00e3, Portugal"},{"name":"Department of Sport Sciences, Instituto Polit\u00e9cnico de Bragan\u00e7a, 5300-252 Bragan\u00e7a, Portugal"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2022,11,6]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Gatta, G., Cortesi, M., and Zamparo, P. (2016). The relationship between power generated by thrust and power to overcome drag in elite short distance swimmers. PLoS ONE, 11.","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0162387"},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"35","DOI":"10.1123\/jab.24.1.35","article-title":"Drag characteristics of competitive swimming children and adults","volume":"24","author":"Kjendlie","year":"2008","journal-title":"J. Appl. Biomech."},{"key":"ref_3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"197","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jbiomech.2018.05.027","article-title":"Effect of leg kick on active drag in front-crawl swimming: Comparison of whole stroke and arms-only stroke during front-crawl and the streamlined position","volume":"76","author":"Narita","year":"2018","journal-title":"J. Biomech."},{"key":"ref_4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Gonz\u00e1lez-Rav\u00e9, J.M., Moya-Fern\u00e1ndez, F., Hermosilla-Perona, F., and Castillo-Garc\u00eda, F.J. (2022). Vision-based system for automated estimation of the frontal area of swimmers: Towards the determination of the instant active drag: A pilot study. Sensors, 22.","DOI":"10.3390\/s22030955"},{"key":"ref_5","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Santos, C.C., Marinho, D.A., Neiva, H.P., and Costa, M.J. (2021). Propulsive forces in human competitive swimming: A systematic review on direct assessment methods: Propulsive forces in competitive swimming. Sports Biomech.","DOI":"10.1080\/14763141.2021.1953574"},{"key":"ref_6","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Morais, J.E., Oliveira, J.P., Sampaio, T., and Barbosa, T.M. (2022). Wearables in swimming for real-time feedback: A systematic review. Sensors, 22.","DOI":"10.3390\/s22103677"},{"key":"ref_7","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Santos, C.C., Marinho, D.A., and Costa, M.J. (2022). The mechanical and efficiency constraints when swimming front crawl with the Aquanex System. J. Hum. Kinet.","DOI":"10.2478\/hukin-2022-0090"},{"key":"ref_8","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Koga, D., Gonjo, T., Kawai, E., Tsunokawa, T., Sakai, S., Sengoku, Y., Homma, M., and Takagi, H. (2020). Effects of exceeding stroke frequency of maximal effort on hand kinematics and hand propulsive force in front crawl. Sports Biomech.","DOI":"10.1080\/14763141.2020.1814852"},{"key":"ref_9","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"606","DOI":"10.1055\/s-0032-1327575","article-title":"Propulsive force asymmetry during tethered-swimming","volume":"34","author":"Pereira","year":"2013","journal-title":"Int. J. Sports Med."},{"key":"ref_10","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"185","DOI":"10.1016\/j.humov.2014.12.012","article-title":"Quantification of upper limb kinetic asymmetries in front crawl swimming","volume":"40","author":"Marinho","year":"2015","journal-title":"Hum. Mov. Sci."},{"key":"ref_11","first-page":"1","article-title":"How can asymmetries in swimming be identified and measured?","volume":"19","author":"Sanders","year":"2012","journal-title":"J. Swim. Res."},{"key":"ref_12","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"410","DOI":"10.1080\/24748668.2011.11868560","article-title":"Assessment of accuracy, reliability and force measurement errors for a tethered swimming apparatus","volume":"11","author":"Psycharakis","year":"2011","journal-title":"Int. J. Perform. Anal. Sport"},{"key":"ref_13","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1836","DOI":"10.1080\/02640414.2018.1423608","article-title":"Contribution of limbs\u2019 actions to the four competitive swimming strokes: A nonlinear approach","volume":"36","author":"Bartolomeu","year":"2018","journal-title":"J. Sports Sci."},{"key":"ref_14","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"11683","DOI":"10.1038\/s41598-020-68581-3","article-title":"Upper-limb kinematics and kinetics imbalances in the determinants of front-crawl swimming at maximal speed in young international level swimmers","volume":"10","author":"Morais","year":"2020","journal-title":"Sci. Rep."},{"key":"ref_15","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"507","DOI":"10.1080\/17461391.2020.1754468","article-title":"Anthropometric variables, propulsive force and biological maturation: A mediation analysis in young swimmers","volume":"21","author":"Oliveira","year":"2021","journal-title":"Eur. J. Sport Sci."},{"key":"ref_16","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1976","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jbiomech.2010.03.008","article-title":"Generalized n-dimensional biomechanical field analysis using statistical parametric mapping","volume":"43","author":"Pataky","year":"2010","journal-title":"J. Biomech."},{"key":"ref_17","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"317","DOI":"10.1123\/ijspp.2021-0451","article-title":"Defining training and performance caliber: A participant classification framework","volume":"17","author":"McKay","year":"2022","journal-title":"Int. J. Sports Physiol. Perform."},{"key":"ref_18","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"81","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jsams.2016.04.012","article-title":"Effects of 10 min vs. 20 min passive rest after warm-up on 100 m freestyle time-trial performance: A randomized crossover study","volume":"20","author":"Neiva","year":"2017","journal-title":"J. Sci. Med. Sport"},{"key":"ref_19","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"12927","DOI":"10.3390\/s121012927","article-title":"Front-crawl instantaneous velocity estimation using a wearable inertial measurement unit","volume":"12","author":"Dadashi","year":"2012","journal-title":"Sensors"},{"key":"ref_20","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"262","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jsams.2009.01.003","article-title":"Energetics and biomechanics as determining factors of swimming performance: Updating the state of the art","volume":"13","author":"Barbosa","year":"2010","journal-title":"J. Sci. Med. Sport"},{"key":"ref_21","first-page":"278","article-title":"Relationships of stroke rate, distance per stroke, and velocity in competitive swimming","volume":"11","author":"Craig","year":"1979","journal-title":"Med. Sci. Sports"},{"key":"ref_22","first-page":"1","article-title":"Seasonal variations in swimming force and training adaptation","volume":"21","author":"Havriluk","year":"2013","journal-title":"J. Swim. Res."},{"key":"ref_23","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"98","DOI":"10.1123\/jab.29.1.98","article-title":"Acute effect of front crawl sprint resisted swimming on the propulsive forces of the hand","volume":"29","author":"Gourgoulis","year":"2013","journal-title":"J. Appl. Biomech."},{"key":"ref_24","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"304","DOI":"10.1080\/00913847.2019.1693240","article-title":"Relationship between thrust, anthropometrics, and dry-land strength in a national junior swimming team","volume":"48","author":"Morais","year":"2020","journal-title":"Phys. Sportsmed."},{"key":"ref_25","unstructured":"Hopkins, W.G. (2002). A scale of magnitude for effect statistics. A New View of Statistics, Sport Science."},{"key":"ref_26","unstructured":"R Core Team (2017). R: A Language and Environment for Statistical Computing, R Foundation for Statistical Computing."},{"key":"ref_27","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"354","DOI":"10.1123\/mc.2018-0014","article-title":"Integrated analysis of young swimmers\u2019 sprint performance","volume":"23","author":"Silva","year":"2019","journal-title":"Mot. Control"},{"key":"ref_28","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"73","DOI":"10.3389\/fphys.2019.00073","article-title":"Skillful swimming in age-groups is determined by anthropometrics, biomechanics and energetics","volume":"10","author":"Barbosa","year":"2019","journal-title":"Front. Physiol."},{"key":"ref_29","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1784","DOI":"10.1249\/mss.0b013e3180f62f38","article-title":"Kinematic changes during a 100-m front crawl: Effects of performance level and gender","volume":"39","author":"Seifert","year":"2007","journal-title":"Med. Sci. Sports Exercise"},{"key":"ref_30","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"876838","DOI":"10.3389\/fphys.2022.876838","article-title":"Understanding the role of propulsion in the prediction of front-crawl swimming velocity and in the relationship between stroke frequency and stroke length","volume":"13","author":"Morais","year":"2022","journal-title":"Front. Physiol."},{"key":"ref_31","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1100","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jsams.2018.03.009","article-title":"A force profile analysis comparison between functional data analysis, statistical parametric mapping and statistical non-parametric mapping in on-water single sculling","volume":"21","author":"Warmenhoven","year":"2018","journal-title":"J. Sci. Med. Sport"},{"key":"ref_32","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Ruiz-Navarro, J.J., Cano-Adamuz, M., Andersen, J.T., Cuenca-Fern\u00e1ndez, F., L\u00f3pez-Contreras, G., Vanrenterghem, J., and Arellano, R. (2021). Understanding the effects of training on underwater undulatory swimming performance and kinematics. Sports Biomech.","DOI":"10.1080\/14763141.2021.1891276"},{"key":"ref_33","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2357","DOI":"10.1249\/MSS.0000000000002400","article-title":"The influence of the frontal surface area and swim velocity variation in front crawl active drag","volume":"52","author":"Morais","year":"2020","journal-title":"Med. Sci. Sports Exercise"},{"key":"ref_34","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"945","DOI":"10.1080\/02640414.2016.1206208","article-title":"Relationship between shoulder roll and hand propulsion in the front crawl stroke","volume":"35","author":"Kudo","year":"2017","journal-title":"J. Sports Sci."},{"key":"ref_35","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"786459","DOI":"10.3389\/fspor.2022.786459","article-title":"Relationship between hand kinematics, hand hydrodynamic pressure distribution and hand propulsive force in sprint front crawl swimming","volume":"4","author":"Koga","year":"2022","journal-title":"Front. Sports Act. Living"},{"key":"ref_36","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"378","DOI":"10.1016\/j.humov.2019.03.007","article-title":"The effect of using paddles on hand propulsive forces and Froude efficiency in arm-stroke-only front-crawl swimming at various velocities","volume":"64","author":"Tsunokawa","year":"2019","journal-title":"Hum. Mov. Sci."},{"key":"ref_37","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"229","DOI":"10.1080\/02640410903508847","article-title":"Body roll in swimming: A review","volume":"28","author":"Psycharakis","year":"2010","journal-title":"J. Sports Sci."},{"key":"ref_38","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"21","DOI":"10.1080\/02701367.2019.1708235","article-title":"Data modeling for inter-and intra-individual stability of young swimmers\u2019 performance: A longitudinal cluster analysis","volume":"92","author":"Morais","year":"2021","journal-title":"Res. Q. Exercise Sport"},{"key":"ref_39","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1271","DOI":"10.1177\/17479541211013755","article-title":"Spatial-temporal variables for swimming coaches: A comparison study between video and TritonWear sensor","volume":"16","author":"Pla","year":"2021","journal-title":"Int. J. Sports Sci. Coach."},{"key":"ref_40","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"793302","DOI":"10.3389\/fbioe.2021.793302","article-title":"Swimming phase-based performance evaluation using a single IMU in main swimming techniques","volume":"9","author":"Aminian","year":"2021","journal-title":"Front. Bioeng. Biotechnol."},{"key":"ref_41","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"145","DOI":"10.37190\/ABB-01991-2021-05","article-title":"A kinematic model of a humanoid lower limb exoskeleton with pneumatic actuators","volume":"24","author":"Glowinski","year":"2022","journal-title":"Acta Bioeng. Biomech."}],"container-title":["Sensors"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/1424-8220\/22\/21\/8549\/pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,11]],"date-time":"2025-10-11T01:11:33Z","timestamp":1760145093000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/1424-8220\/22\/21\/8549"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2022,11,6]]},"references-count":41,"journal-issue":{"issue":"21","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2022,11]]}},"alternative-id":["s22218549"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/s22218549","relation":{},"ISSN":["1424-8220"],"issn-type":[{"value":"1424-8220","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2022,11,6]]}}}