Linear Force Transducers (LFT) are devices designed to measure the displacement and velocity of movement via a tethered cord. They have been utilised extensively in a variety of different sports, and have been shown to be more reliable than accelerometers in measuring linear kinematics. At present, the effectiveness of LFTs in analysing punching technique has only been used in non-trained subjects, whose kinematics are likely to be very different to that of a trained boxer. The purpose of this study was therefore to assess the reliability of two different measurement devices in assessing the velocity of a punch.
18 junior (av. 16.7 y/o) national and international level boxers underwent two separate (7 days apart) testing sessions (following a familiarisation session) where the mean and peak velocity of their rear hand straight punch was measured with both gymaware (LPT) and PUSH band 2.0 (accelerometer) systems.
The reliability for both mean and maximum peak velocity for the gymaware device was shown to be “good”, whereas both these measures were determined to be “poor” for the PUSH band. The mean peak velocity for these trials as recorded by the gymaware device was 7.0 m/s, with the maximum peak velocity 7.5m/s.
Although impractical to be used in sparring/drilling situations, when aiming to obtain an accurate measurement of the velocity of punching techniques in specific testing scenarios, an LPT such as the gymaware may be a more reliable method in comparison to an accelerometer. More studies are required, however, to validate this amongst different populations and levels of athletes.
