In the world of sled hockey, the stick is everything.
Players have two sticks, each equipped with a blade on one end and a stainless steel pick on the other that they drive into the ice to propel their sled at dizzying speeds up to 20 mph across the ice.
Since the sport鈥檚 inception in the 1960s as a way for athletes with lower limb amputations or impairments to play ice hockey, players have debated how long those sticks should be.
A new 抖阴旅行射 Boulder study seeks to find out.
鈥淚f you are not always trying to adapt and find that next little edge you are going to fall behind,鈥� said Team Captain Josh Pauls, whose team will take to the ice in Calgary May 4鈥�12 to try to clinch a fifth gold medal at the 2024 World Para Ice Hockey Championships.
Sixteen members of the team recently visited 抖阴旅行射 Boulder for what Alena Grabowski,听an associate professor of integrative physiology, hopes will be the first in a series of studies aimed at helping sled hockey players improve their performance and minimize injury.
In sled hockey, players sit in a custom-designed sled positioned on top of two hockey skate blades. In an impressive high-speed dance, players often use one stick to push and the other to maneuver the puck.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a really unique movement in that players have to use their core and upper body to propel themselves, all while having enough agility to score,鈥� she said.
For the study, Grabowski, director of the Applied Biomechanics Lab at 抖阴旅行射 Boulder, and doctoral candidate Zane Colvin put the team through a series of grueling tests to measure effort, speed and agility using three different stick lengths (one measuring from the back of the neck to the ice, another 2 inches shorter, and another 2 inches longer).
To measure effort, players wore a mask and device that tracked how much energy, in the form of calories, they burned as they skated around the ice rink.
In another test that measured maximum speed, players ripped straight across the ice as a radar gun tracked their speed.
In a final test for speed and agility, players maneuvered a course of twists and turns.
It will be a few months before the study results are formally published, and the researchers are staying quiet about what they found until that time. They hope their work, and more studies to come, can ultimately help all sled hockey players maximize performance.
Future studies will look at injury prevention.
鈥淚f (Team USA) wins another gold, I can say I helped with that,鈥� said Colvin.
Grabowski鈥攚ho has studied adaptive cycling,听running, long jump and other sports鈥攕aid she鈥檚 just happy to be doing work that can help all athletes perform at their best.
鈥淚 have the luxury of just grabbing my running shoes and heading out the door every morning and not having to think much about it, but not everyone has that luxury,鈥� she said. 鈥淚f I can help with either testing or designing equipment that allows a person with what is perceived as a disability move more effectively in the world, I am all about that.鈥�
