{"id":49199,"date":"2018-01-02T16:41:11","date_gmt":"2018-01-02T21:41:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsroom.carleton.ca\/?post_type=cu_story&p=49199"},"modified":"2025-10-17T17:58:47","modified_gmt":"2025-10-17T21:58:47","slug":"grad-research-could-help-olympic-sledge-hockey-athletes","status":"publish","type":"cu_story","link":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/story\/grad-research-could-help-olympic-sledge-hockey-athletes\/","title":{"rendered":"Grad Research Could Help Olympic Sledge Hockey Athletes"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\n Grad Research Could Help Olympic Sledge Hockey Athletes\n <\/h1>\n \n <\/header>\n <\/div>\n\n \n <\/path>\n <\/path>\n <\/svg>\n <\/div>\n\n \n\n <\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n

When Canada\u2019s Paralympic ice hockey team builds its next Olympic champion from grassroots players across Canada, they\u2019ll have an ace in the hole \u2014 an enhanced understanding of the sport\u2019s unique biomechanics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Carleton biomedical engineering PhD<\/a> candidate Alicia Gal is partnering with Hockey Canada on a longitudinal study of how the sport\u2019s seated style of skating actually works.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Seated on a sledge, para-ice hockey players push themselves across the ice using handheld picks \u2014 a dramatically different motion from upright hockey\u2019s striding style. Para-ice hockey\u2019s skating motion more closely resembles double-polling in cross-country skiing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So the wealth of biomechanical research for upright ice hockey is of little use in teaching new athletes the sport, and para-athletes\u2019 individual physical uniqueness adds a layer of difficulty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a higher level of complexity to biomechanical research for para-athletes,\u201d Gal says. \u201cEach athlete is different, and has a unique set of limitations. So each athlete will skate differently. We\u2019re seeking to establish a general guideline.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gal\u2019s research began with a na\u00efve population \u2014 able-bodied athletes who had never participated in the sport. This replicates how para-ice hockey players often come to the sport: fresh out of rehab and seeking a way to have an active lifestyle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSkating is the foundation of the sport,\u201d she says.  \u201cIf a player can\u2019t move themselves in the sledge, they can\u2019t play.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the University of Ottawa\u2019s Human Movement Biomechanics Laboratory<\/a> (Dr. Mario Lamontagne and Dr Daniel Benoit ), Gal mapped the biomechanics of sledge skating using force plates, electromyography \u2014 a technique that captures electrical activity in muscles \u2013 and motion capture. Infrared cameras tracked athletes\u2019 motions using reflective markers on participants\u2019 bodies. (The biomedical engineering programs at Carleton U and the U of O are able to share resources as they are both part of the Ottawa-Carleton Institute for Biomedical Engineering.<\/a>)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read the full story at the Faculty of Graduates and Postdoctoral Studies page<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When Canada\u2019s Paralympic ice hockey team builds its next Olympic champion from grassroots players across Canada, they\u2019ll have an ace in the hole \u2014 an enhanced understanding of the sport\u2019s unique biomechanics. Carleton biomedical engineering PhD candidate Alicia Gal is partnering with Hockey Canada on a longitudinal study of how the sport\u2019s seated style of skating actually […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":410,"featured_media":49201,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"cu_story_type":[13,25],"cu_story_tag":[1918,1923,1925],"class_list":["post-49199","cu_story","type-cu_story","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","cu_story_type-research-discovery","cu_story_type-student-experience","cu_story_tag-faculty-of-engineering-and-design","cu_story_tag-graduate-studies","cu_story_tag-research"],"acf":{"cu_post_thumbnail":"blueprint"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story\/49199","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/cu_story"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/410"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story\/49199\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":97741,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story\/49199\/revisions\/97741"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/49201"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49199"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"cu_story_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story_type?post=49199"},{"taxonomy":"cu_story_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story_tag?post=49199"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}