Automatic detection of skate strokes in short-track speed skating using one single IMU: validation of a new method

ABSTRACT

Greater impulse is a key performance indicator of success in short track speed skating. The main objective of this study was to develop a method to measure skating strokes using a single IMU. Eight elite or world-class speed skaters had one IMU placed against their skin on the lower back, and a camera setup was positioned to capture the test. A maximal speed trial was then executed by each participant, and the data were analysed to estimate agreement between the camera and IMU estimates of skate stroke events. Inter-evaluator reliability was assessed on a dataset of 22 athletes performing speed trials as well. The algorithm detected 100% of the strokes identified on the video capture system with a root mean square error of 0.06s. Bland-Altman analysis showed a bias of 0.03s between the two methods, which corresponds to the frame rate of the camera. The inter-evaluator reliability yielded an intra-class correlation of 1.00 (ICC3,1) from a dataset of 7089 strokes. This study provides an example of on-ice evaluation of speed skating strokes using a single IMU. This equipment is less expensive than that employed by previous authors and can be implemented in training situations with low invasiveness.

KEYWORDS:

• Winter sport
• performance analysis
• elite athletes
• accelerometer
• wearable sensor

Acknowledgments

The authors want to thank the athletes who agreed to take part in this study and the coaches from the Canadian Olympic Speed Skating Short Track Teams for providing key insights about the worthwhile variables to explore.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

The work was supported by the Research, Innovation and Dissemination Program of the Institut national du sport du Québec (Montréal, QC, Canada) and by the Innovations 4 Gold funding program from Own the Podium (Ottawa, ON, Canada).