Physiological demands and motion analysis of elite foil fencing

PLOS ONE RESEARCH ARTICLE Physiological demands and motion analysis of elite foil fencing Lindsay Bottoms ID1*, Rafael Tarragó2, Daniel Muñiz ID1, Diego Chaverri2, Alfredo Irurtia2, Jorge Castizo-Olier2,3, Marta Carrasco2, Ferran A. Rodrı́guez2, Xavier Iglesias2 1 Centre for Research in Psychology and Sport Sciences, University of Hertfordshire, Hatfield, United Kingdom, 2 Grup de Recerca en Ciències de l’Esport INEFC Barcelona (GRCEIB), Institut Nacional d’Educació Fı́sica de Catalunya (INEFC), Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain, 3 School of Health Sciences, TecnoCampus, Pompeu Fabra University, Barcelona, Spain a1111111111 a1111111111 a1111111111 a1111111111 a1111111111 OPEN ACCESS Citation: Bottoms L, Tarragó R, Muñiz D, Chaverri D, Irurtia A, Castizo-Olier J, et al. (2023) Physiological demands and motion analysis of elite foil fencing. PLoS ONE 18(2): e0281600. https:// doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0281600 Editor: Emiliano Cè, Universita degli Studi di Milano, ITALY Received: September 30, 2022 Accepted: January 27, 2023 Published: February 14, 2023 Peer Review History: PLOS recognizes the benefits of transparency in the peer review process; therefore, we enable the publication of all of the content of peer review and author responses alongside final, published articles. The editorial history of this article is available here: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0281600 Copyright: © 2023 Bottoms et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Data Availability Statement: Data relevant to this study are available from https://doi.org/10.18745/ DS.26019 [Bottoms, L., Tarragó, R., Muñiz, D., Chaverri, D., Irurtia, A., Castizo-Olier, J., Carrasco, M., Rodrı́guez, F.A. and Iglesias, X. (2023). * Abstract The aim of this study was to determine the physiological demands and motion analysis of a simulated fencing competition. Eighteen fencers each completed 5 ‘poule’ (5 touches) and ‘direct elimination (DE)’ (15 touches) fights. Expired gases were measured during 1 poule and DE fight. Heart rate (HR), ratings of perceived exertion (RPE) and movement data were recorded throughout all fights. Motion analysis was undertaken using the software LINCE PLUS. Differences between poule and DE fights were determined by either a paired t-test or a one-way repeated measures ANOVA. HR and RPE were significantly greater during DE compared to poule (170 ±10 vs 163 ±13 beats�min-1; P<0.05). A greater distance was covered during a DE fight compared to a poule fight (459.9 ± 117.7 m vs 162.6 ± 74.2 m; P<0.05). The average values of V_ O2max were 42.5 ±5.6 ml�kg-1�min-1 in men and 34.4 ±3.2 ml�kg-1�min-1 in women. Work-to-rest ratios reduced during the DE fights along with a lower average speed and increased max speed (11.7 ± 2.8 km�h-1 vs 9.6 ± 1.6 km�h-1; P<0.05). In conclusion, there is an increased physiological demand during a DE fight accompanied by a reduction in average speed and decreased work-to-rest ratio. Introduction Fencing is an Olympic Sport and has 36 medals on offer at the Olympics. There are 3 different weapons, foil, épée and sabre and each have specific tactical characteristics which make them physiologically different [1]. Épée is the weapon which has been most researched, and this involves the fencer trying to touch their opponent anywhere from head to toe and touches can be scored by both fencers at the same time. Points are scored by only the tip of the sword contacting the opponent. Both foil and sabre have a system of priority where the fencer who initiates the attack has the right to score the point unless the opponent manages to successfully parry (a defensive movement). Foil has a target area of just the torso and a point is scored with the tip of the weapon whereas sabre a point is scored with any part of the weapon making contact from the waist up. These differences mean that the tactics and work-to-rest ratios for each weapon are different resulting in different physiological responses. The present study focuses on foil fencing. PLOS ONE | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0281600 February 14, 2023 1 / 14 PLOS ONE Physiological demands of elite foil fencing [Data set]. University of Hertfordshire.]. Funding: Professor Xavier Iglesias received funding from the Ministerio de Universidades (Spain) for mobility stays for Professors in foreign centers. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. All other authors have no relevant financial or non-financial interests to disclose. Competing interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist. Demands of elite foil fencing The duration of a competition for a fencer is very diverse. It depends on the type of competition and the fencer’s final result, and can be from a few minutes, losing a direct elimination (DE) fight, as can happen in the Olympic Games [2], to a period of 9 to 11 hours that includes poule and DE fights [3]. Poule fights are defined as first to 5 touch fights during 3-minutes of fencing. If the 3 minutes are reached the winner is determined by most points won unless the fight is drawn, then up to an extra minute of fencing is completed. Fencers will compete in 4–6 poule fights in a round-robin format after which fencers are seeded for knockout DE fights. Direct elimination fights comprise of first to 15 touches during 3x3 minute bouts with 1 minute of rest between them. If scores are tied after the final 3-minute bout a 1-minute sudden death bout will determine the winner [2]. Fencers could potentially compete in up to 8 DE fights during a competition depending on athlete numbers in the competition. The average work-to-rest ratios for foil has been found to be ~1:3 [4] but the regulations [2] and the official duration times of the fights have changed a lot over the last 20 years since its publication. There is limited research determining the physiological demands of fencing, with the majority of research taking place in épée and in simulated or laboratory environments with no competitive element [5–12]. Understanding the demands of fencing would allow coaches and practitioners to set training programmes to prepare athletes for competition by attempting to match training and conditioning sessions to competition demands. Only two apparent studies have reported heart rate (HR) responses for foil fencing which were found to be ~92.5% HRmax in a poule fight and 96.5% for a DE fight with adolescent females [13] and 173 ±7 beats�min-1 on average for a fight [14]. There is no data on oxygen consumption for foil but blood lactate was found to be 4.2 mmol�L-1 during an official women’s competition [14]. Previous research in foil has attempted to quantify movement patterns using tim (...truncated)