Sport Science

Aim: The main aim of the ‘Sport Science’ research strand of the Peter Harrison Centre for Disability Sport led by Dr Vicky Tolfrey is to develop disability sports knowledge to provide benefit to athletes and coaches at both elite and grass roots level.

Overview: Although the emphasis of the centre to date lies in physiology, the centre plans to use a multidisciplinary approach, which includes applied research from a physiological, biomechanical, anatomical and psychological perspective. This will be achieved by bringing together colleagues with a collective interest in disability sport with a Paralympic focus and a health focus.

For further information about Vicky Tolfrey's research please see her PHC staff profile and her SSEHS staff profile.

To see a 360 degree panoramic virtual tour of the labs please click here.

• Ergonomics of Wheelchair Configuration for Optimum Sports Performance
• Immune Function and Infection Risk in Wheelchair Athletes
• Nutritional, Anthropometric & Bone Health Aspects of Wheelchair Athletes
• Physiology of Disability Football
• Physiology of Wheelchair Tennis
• Training Strategies for Wheelchair Participants
• Wheelchair Propulsion & Mechanical Efficiency
• Wheelchair Sports Performance

Research co-ordinator: Dr Vicky Tolfrey

Current external collaborator: Prof Lucas van der Woude - Center for Human Movement Sciences, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen.

Sponsors: UK Sport

PHC research associate: Barry Mason

Ergonomics of Wheelchair Configuration for Optimum Sports Performance project themes are:

1. What makes a good sports wheelchair – athlete’s views.

2. The effect of glove type on wheelchair rugby sports performance. Barry Mason's poster on this project won him first prize at the 2008 BPA Conference.

3. Wheelchair camber and wheeling performance.

4. Wheelchair wheel size and wheeling performance.

Intense exercise and training can result in an impairment of immune function that can impact on risk of subsequent infection. There is a strong neuroendocrine influence on the immune response to exercise and training, yet little data is available with regard to measures of immune function in wheelchair athletes. This project aims to provide such information.

Research co-ordinator: Dr Lettie Bishop

PHC research assistant: Christof Leicht

PHC research student: Tom Paulson

Projects:

1. Mucosal immune function in wheelchair athletes.

Little data is available with regard to the nutritional intakes or requirements of wheelchair athletes and this area of study is an exciting step towards being able to provide our athletes with much more detailed and individualised information.

Internal collaborators: Dr Susan Shirreffs, (SSEHS) Dr Katherine Brooke-Wavell (Human Sciences) and Dr Keith Tolfrey (SSEHS)

External collaborators:

Sheffield University – Dr Laura Sutton
Manchester Metropolitan University – Professor Jörn Rittweger

British Paralympic Association - Jeanette Crosland

Sponsors: PHC – PhD Studentship: Katherine Black (completed 2008), Lucozade Sport Science (LSS) and GlaxoSmithKline (GSK).

Studentships: Louise Croft (SSEHS) and Mhairi Keil (EIS)

Projects:

1. Fluid and electrolyte balance (sweat loss and fluid intake) and thermoregulation (ability to control the body’s internal temperature) of athletes with a disability.

2. Nutritional profiles of wheelchair athletes. Goosey-Tolfrey, V.L. and Crosland J. (2010). Nutritional practices of competitive British wheelchair games players. Adapted Physical Activity Quarterly. 27 (1): 47-59.

3. Body composition of wheelchair athletes. Sutton, L. Wallace, J., Scott, M., Reilly, T and Goosey-Tolfrey. V.L. (2009). Body composition of female wheelchair athletes. International Journal of Sports Medicine. 30 (4): 259-265.

4. The relationship between dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry and body composition obtained by skinfolds in competitive wheelchair athletes.

5. Tibia geometry with spinal cord injury.

6. Energy expenditure of Paralympic athletes.

The aim of this project is to establish a database describing the key physiological aspects of disability football. Various anthropometric and physiological parameters are assessed in a laboratory and field-based environment.

External driven project: BASES accredited physiologist Craig Boyd

PHC, Loughborough University – Dr Vicky Tolfrey

Projects:

1. Physiological profiling.

2. Classification of CP ambulant athletes.

 The aim of this project is to establish a database describing the key physiological aspects of wheelchair tennis performance. Various anthropometric and physiological are assessed in a laboratory and field-based environment. Topical issues relating to performance are also addressed (e.g., thermoregulation).

Research co-ordinators: Dr Vicky Tolfrey and Dr Keith Tolfrey

External collaborators: University of Pittsburgh - Prof. Rory Cooper

Research assistant: John Lenton

Studentships: Paul Sindall (Salford University PT study)

Previous funder: Tennis Foundation

Projects:

1. Physiological profiling - Poster on Physiological support: GB wheelchair tennis in Florida 2007 by Lenton JP & Goosey-Tolfrey, VL.

2. Cooling strategies - has produced the following publication:

The effectiveness of hand cooling at reducing exercise-induced hyperthermia and improving distance-race performance in wheelchair and able-bodied athletes - by Goosey-Tolfrey VL, Swainson MG, Boyd C, Atkinson G, & Tolfrey K. Published in the Journal of Applied Physiology April 2008.

3. Validation of field based testing for wheelchair athletes - has produced the following publication:

The multi-stage fitness test as a predictor of endurance fitness in wheelchair athletes - Goosey-Tolfrey VL & Tolfrey K. Published in the Journal of Sports Science, March 2008.

4. Physiological demands of wheelchair tennis.

Research in Paralympic sport is limited and the documentation of effective training principles for the wheelchair athlete are still being developed. The aim of this project is to increase the knowledge about training and whether the guidelines from able-bodied participants can be applied to a wheelchair sports context.  

Research co-ordinators:  Dr Vicky Tolfrey

PHC research assistant: Christof Leicht

PHC research student: Tom Paulson

External collaborators:
Manchester Metropolitan University – Dr Hans Degens
Exeter University - Prof. Roger Eston
Swiss Prevention Centre, Nottwil, Switzerland – Dr Claudio Perret

Projects

1. The use of ‘rating of perceived exertion (RPE)’ for monitoring training intensity in wheelchair athletes.

Goosey-Tolfrey, V.L., Lenton, J., Goddard, J., Oldfield, V., Tolfrey, K. and Eston, R. (2010). Regulating intensity using perceived exertion in spinal cord injured participants. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise. 42 (3): 608-613.

2. Inspiratory muscle training and wheelchair performance.

Goosey-Tolfrey, V.L., Foden, E., Perrett, C., and Degens, H. (2008). Effects of inspiratory muscle training on respiratory function and repetitive sprint performance in wheelchair basketball players British Journal of Sports Medicine. (Electronic publication ahead of print).

Hand-rim propulsion is a guided movement that is regulated highly by the rim curvature and its speed and direction of movement. Within these constraints participants are free to adopt different arm frequencies, propulsion modes or both in such a way that suits their requirements at a given wheelchair propulsion velocity or task. In terms of arm frequency, a considerable degree of inter-individual variations is seen at a given speed, resistance level and/or power output. Despite this, hand-rim wheelchair propulsion remains relatively inefficient reporting gross efficiency values ranging from 2-10% during everyday activities and around 12% in studies using trained athletes at high speeds and racing chair configurations. This research programme is designed to help further understand the possible underlying mechanisms of the low efficiencies in hand rim wheelchair propulsion.

Research co-ordinator:  Dr Vicky Tolfrey

Research assistant: John Lenton

External collaborators: Manchester Metropolitan University - Prof Neil Fowler
Center for Human Movement Sciences, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen - Prof Lucas van der Woude
University of Pittsburgh - Prof. Rory Cooper

Projects:

1.The effects of push strategy on mechanical efficiency has produced these publications:

Croft, L., Dybrus S., Lenton, J. and Goosey-Tolfrey, V. (2010). A comparison of the physiological demands of wheelchair basketball and wheelchair tennis. International Journal of Sports Physiology and Performance.

Goosey-Tolfrey, V.L., Lenton, J., Goddard, J., Oldfield, V., Tolfrey, K. and Eston, R. (2010). Regulating intensity using perceived exertion in spinal cord injured participants. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise. 42 (3): 608-613.

Lenton, J.P., Fowler, N.E., Woude, van der L.H.V. and Goosey-Tolfrey, V.L. (2010). Effects of 4-weeks asynchronous hand-rim wheelchair practice on mechanical efficiency and timing. Disability and Rehabilitation.

Lenton, J.P, Woude, van der L.H.V., Fowler, N.E., Goosey-Tolfrey, V.L. (2009). Effects of arm frequency during synchronous and asynchronous wheelchair propulsion on efficiency. International Journal of Sports Medicine. 30 (4): 233-239.

Lenton, J.P., Fowler, N., van der Woude, L. and Goosey-Tolfrey, V.L. (2008). Efficiency of wheelchair propulsion and effects of strategy. International Journal of Sports Medicine. 29 (5): 384-389.

Lenton J. P., Fowler, NE, van der Woude L, and Goosey-Tolfrey VL.  (2008). Wheelchair propulsion: effects of experience and push strategy on efficiency and perceived exertion. Applied Physiology, Nutrition and Metabolism. 2008 Oct; 33(5) pp 870-9.

The aim of this research programme into the optimisation of sports wheelchair design is to examine selected physiological and propulsion technique parameters associated to chair-set up for the execution of wheelchair propulsion skills of acceleration, braking and turning.

To find out further information about researchers in this topic area please look at the BioMedExperts website.

RGK are sponsors of wheelchairs and spares to all GB National Teams including GBWBA. See: http://www.rgklife.com/

Projects:

1. Towards evidence based classification in Paralympic athletics: reliability of methods for evaluating sports-specific range of movement

Research co-ordinator: Dr Vicky Tolfrey

PHC research assistant: John Lenton

External collaborators: Dr Sean Tweedy, University of Queensland, Brisbane.