The purpose of this study was to develop a model for estimating forces produced by a swimmer's hand that accounts for the effect of acceleration in the direction of flow, and to assess whether this needs to be considered when estimating forces produced by a swimmer's hand. Results: Force curves generated by using the fitted coefficients of velocity in conjunction with the measured velocity and acceleration closely matched the measured force curves (root mean square errors < 0.4 N). This indicated that forces acting on a hand moving at non constant velocities through water can be predicted accurately by a formula with constant coefficients for a given orientation of the hand. When the coefficients were applied to data obtained from three dimensional video analysis of a swimmer's hand, it was found that the forces contributed by the effective mass' were up to 35 % of the total forces during the periods of greatest acceleration. A model was developed that enables improved estimates of drag forces produced by a swimmer's hand. The effect of accelerations of a swimmer's hand should be considered when seeking accurate estimates of forces in swimming. (from: Proceedings of the First Australasian Biomechanics Conference; ISBN 0 86758 999 X)
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