Relationships Among Sprint-Paddling Performance, Shoulder Function, and Upper-Body Strength, in Female Surfers.

Area of Science:

• Sports Science
• Biomechanics
• Surfing Performance Analysis

Background:

• Surfing performance relies on efficient paddling technique.
• Understanding the relationship between physical attributes and paddling is crucial for training.
• Reliable methods for assessing paddling performance and related physical factors are needed.

Purpose of the Study:

• To establish the reliability of water-based sprint-paddling tests (tethered and free).
• To investigate the relationships between sprint-paddling performance, shoulder function, and upper-body strength in female surfers.

Main Methods:

• Ten female surfers completed tethered (8-s) and free (15-m) sprint-paddling tests across two sessions.
• Dryland assessments included shoulder range of motion, isometric shoulder strength, and maximal pull-up strength.
• Reliability was assessed using intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC), coefficient of variation (%CV), and typical error (TE).

Main Results:

• Both tethered and free sprint-paddling tests demonstrated good to excellent reliability.
• Excellent reliability was found for average force in tethered paddling (ICC=0.97).
• Significant inverse associations were observed between shoulder external range of motion and paddling force, and between shoulder rotation strength and sprint time.

Conclusions:

• Tethered and free sprint-paddling tests are reliable for assessing performance in female surfers.
• Shoulder range of motion and strength are associated with sprint-paddling performance.
• Further research with larger samples of strength-trained surfers is recommended to explore shoulder function assessments.