Biomechanical tools capable of detecting external forces in swimming starts and turns have been developed since 1970. This study described the development and validation of a three-dimensional (six-degrees of freedom) instrumented block for swimming starts and turns. Seven force plates, a starting block, an underwater structure, one pair of handgrips and feet supports for starts were firstly designed, numerically simulated, manufactured and validated according to the Fédération Internationale de Natation rules. Static and dynamic force plate simulations revealed deformations between 290 to 376 µe and 279 to 545 µe in the anterior-posterior and vertical axis and 182 to 328.6 Hz resonance frequencies. Force plates were instrumented with 24 strain gauges each connected to full Wheatstone bridge circuits. Static and dynamic calibration revealed linearity (R2 between 0.97 and 0.99) and non-meaningful cross-talk between orthogonal (1%) axes. Laboratory and ecological validation revealed the similarity between force curve profiles. The need for discriminating each upper and lower limb force responses has implied a final nine-force plates solution with seven above and two underwater platforms. The instrumented block has given an unprecedented contribution to accurate external force measurements in swimming starts and turns.
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