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Biomechanics of archery and spinal cord injury

In recent days, the Unipolar Spinal Unit of the Santa Corona Hospital in Pietra Ligure (Savona) was at the center of an important day of social and sporting value, dedicated to the research project “Biomechanics of archery: advanced techniques analysis for the characterization of movement and muscle activity in able-bodied archers with spinal cord injuries”, in the presence of archery champion Cinzia Noziglia, involved in the project itself

The director of the Unipolar Spinal Unit of Pietra Ligure Antonino Massone, with the archery champion Cinzia Noziglia

«This beautiful initiative confirms the commitment of all the operators of this structure, which represents an important reference at national level and a great resource both clinically and rehabilitatively for people with spinal cord injury“: the structure to which the words of Marco Damonte Prioligeneral manager of ASL 2 of Liguria, is theUnipolar Spinal Unit of the Santa Corona hospital Ligurian stone (Savona) and the initiative is the research project called Archery biomechanics: advanced analysis techniques for the characterization of movement and muscle activity in spinal cord injured and able-bodied archerswhich last April 28 was the focus of an important day of social and sporting value, also in the presence of Cinzia Noziglia, Fiamme Oro archer, recent individual and team winner at the European Indoor Championships and record holder in the bare bow specialty. In fact, Noziglia lent her participation in the aforementioned project and for the occasion, some representatives of the FITARCO (Italian Federation of Archery), as well as people with spinal cord injury practitioners of this sport, who have been able to get to know it closely.

«It is well known – explains dalla FAIP (Federation of Italian Associations of People with Spinal Cord Injury) – that the archery is a sport suitable for all, regardless of age, gender or ability. It is a physical activity that requires short bursts of energy from the muscles of the core [complesso muscolare coxo-lombo-pelvico, N.d.R.]In fact, the act of shooting a bow tenses the chest, hands, arms and large muscles of the upper back, as well as the rotator cuffs, which support the shoulders. The correct and continuous repetition of this movement strengthens these tissues and therefore, it turns out suitable for people with reduced mobilityallowing them to continue to move and train those muscle groups above the level of spinal cord injury.”
«Over the years – they add from the Federation -, most of the research in the biomechanics of archery has focused on the study of “able-bodied” archers with different levels of experience, placing emphasis on the analysis of muscle activations during this gesture; the references that jointly describe both the kinematic and muscular aspects in this discipline are, instead, still limited. In parallel, there is no complete characterization of this sporting gesture that describes, separately and simultaneously, kinematics and muscle activations in spinal cord injured subjects. In this sense, the research project involving the champion Cinzia Noziglia uses advanced analysis techniques to investigate the movement and muscle activations during archery, in order to characterize the kinematics and muscle strategies adopted by the athletes with and without movement disorders».

In conclusion, it should be remembered that the project on the biomechanics of archery is conducted in collaboration with the DEPRICE (Department of Computer Science, Bioengineering, Robotics and Systems Engineering) of theUniversity of Genoa and with the SCHIL laboratory (Spinal Cord Italian Lab), as well as other research, treatment and innovation initiatives active at the Spinal Unit of Pietra Ligure. (S.B.)

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