Exploratory Analysis of Treading Water Coordination and the Influence of Task and Environmental Constraints.

Chris Button,Harjo J De Poel,Christophe Schnitzler,Luka Brouwer

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02579

Abstract

The radical embodied cognition approach to behavior requires emphasis upon how humans adapt their motor skills in response to changes in constraint. The aim of this exploratory study was to identify how the typical coordination patterns used to tread water were influenced by constraints representative of open water environments. Twenty-three participants were measured while treading water (TW) in a swimming flume in four conditions: (1) in still water, wearing a bathing suit (baseline); (2) wearing typical outdoor clothing (clothed); (3) with an additional cognitive task imposed (dual task); and (4) against a changing current (flow). Mixed methods kinematic analysis revealed four different TW coordination patterns were used across the conditions. The four TW patterns used represent a hierarchy of expertise in terms of the capacity to generate continuous lift forces, where pattern 1 (the lowest skill level) involved predominantly pushing and kicking limb movements (N = 1); pattern 2 was a movement pattern consisting of legs pushing/kicking and arms sculling (N = 7); pattern 3 was synchronous sculling of all four limbs (N = 6); and pattern 4 was the “eggbeater kick” (the highest skill level), with asynchronous sculling movements of the legs (N = 9). The four TW patterns were generally robust to the modified constraints. The higher skilled patterns (i.e., patterns 3 and 4) appeared to be the most stable coordination patterns. These results suggest that learning to perform more complex patterns to tread water might be an asset to survive in life-threatening situations.

Highlights

Drowning is recognized as a significant problem globally (WHO, 2014)
Given that treading water (TW) is an important, potentially life-saving skill, we propose that the four coordination patterns may be inherently stable, albeit to different degrees depending on the mechanical efficiency of the preferred pattern
This group effect was not the same since they were already treading water at 0.8 m/s with decreasing current, while there were no such patterns present at 0.8 m/s with increasing current. This exploratory study considered how TW patterns were adapted to altered task and environmental constraints

Summary

Introduction

Drowning is recognized as a significant problem globally (WHO, 2014). Rising sea levels and unpredictable weather patterns due to climate change endanger the lives of many people all over the world (Patz and Kovats, 2002). Each drowning case is multifactorial in terms of contributing factors (i.e., preceding activity, experience, environment, task, etc.) (Croft and Button, 2015). Such factors can be thought of in terms of influential constraints that both limit and enable the emergence of behaviors – an individual’s “aquatic readiness” (Langendorfer and Bruya, 1995). The capacity to tread water allows people to monitor themselves and their environment and to make an informed decision about subsequent behaviors, while being able to maintain steady breathing (Golden and Tipton, 2002). While several studies have considered the mechanics of TW among skilled sports people (e.g., Sanders, 1999; Homma and Homma, 2005), less is known about how individuals of various skill levels tread water across different environmental conditions and task demands

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