Wearable sensors and smart equipment for feedback in watersports

Basic on-site technical equipment in watersports coaching is a stop-watch. Wearable sensors attached to the athlete or installed into the sport equipment can offer valuable supplemental information to coach during the practice. Providing a real-time feedback to the coach can make coaching more efficient. The paper presents the first results of our field tests in swimming, canoeing and kayaking. All listed watersport disciplines have many similar quantitative temporal and kinematic parameters to extract: angular velocity and acceleration peaks, stroke frequency, stroke duration, stroke symmetry, and others. Our focus is the definition of demands for a measurement system that would best fit watersport professionals. The final goal is the development of a real-time feedback system consisting of a waterproof wireless device with multiple sensors and a user friendly application. Sport professionals should be able to operate the system without constant presence of trained and experienced technical personnel (engineer).