Figure skating is considered to be a physically and psychologically demanding sport. It has been estimated that 50% 78% of figure skating injuries could be prevented. It is suggested that off-ice training may reduce injury risk. The primary aim of this project was to identify incidence and occurrence of injury in female competitive and recreational solo figure skaters. The secondary aim was to identify the role of off-ice training and its association with injury and level of skating. The third aim was to investigate associations between injury, age and maturity.<p> Competitive (n=14) and STARSkate (n=17) Saskatchewan female solo figure skaters, age range 10-18 reported their injury and training data in retrospective questionnaires for a period of 9 months. The injury rate per 100 hours of training was 0.26 for competitive figure skaters (CFSs) and 0.44 for StarSkate figure skaters (SSFSs). The injured skaters were significantly older, more mature and heavier than non-injured figure skaters (p<0.05) and had been involved in figure skating for 8 or more years. There were 21 figure skating-related injuries (57% overuse and 43% acute) reported by SSFSs (8 overuse and 4 acute) and CFSs (4 overuse and 5 acute).<p> There were no significant associations between the number of overuse injuries sustained and the level of skating, (÷2 = 0.003, p>0.05) and no significant associations between the number of acute injuries sustained by the CFS and SSFS groups (÷2 = 0.053, p>0.05). There were no significant associations found between the number of injuries sustained by the CFS and SSFS groups that followed or did not follow Skate Canada Long-term Athlete Development Model off-ice training recommendations (15 minutes off-ice training for every on-ice hour) (÷2 = 2.801, p>0.05).<p> SSFSs sustained more overuse injuries (8) than CFSs (4) and participated in significantly less hours of off-ice training and spent less time stretching. The overuse injury rates for 100 hours of off-ice training were 1.75 for SSFSs and 0.41 for CFSs. These findings suggest that more off-ice training in CFSs could have possibly served as an overuse injury prevention component in the cohort of this study.

Figure skating is considered to be a physically and psychologically demanding sport. It has been estimated that 50% 78% of figure skating injuries could be prevented. It is suggested that off-ice training may reduce injury risk. The primary aim of this project was to identify incidence and occurrence of injury in female competitive and recreational solo figure skaters. The secondary aim was to identify the role of off-ice training and its association with injury and level of skating. The third aim was to investigate associations between injury, age and maturity.<p> Competitive (n=14) and STARSkate (n=17) Saskatchewan female solo figure skaters, age range 10-18 reported their injury and training data in retrospective questionnaires for a period of 9 months. The injury rate per 100 hours of training was 0.26 for competitive figure skaters (CFSs) and 0.44 for StarSkate figure skaters (SSFSs). The injured skaters were significantly older, more mature and heavier than non-injured figure skaters (p<0.05) and had been involved in figure skating for 8 or more years. There were 21 figure skating-related injuries (57% overuse and 43% acute) reported by SSFSs (8 overuse and 4 acute) and CFSs (4 overuse and 5 acute).<p> There were no significant associations between the number of overuse injuries sustained and the level of skating, (÷2 = 0.003, p>0.05) and no significant associations between the number of acute injuries sustained by the CFS and SSFS groups (÷2 = 0.053, p>0.05). There were no significant associations found between the number of injuries sustained by the CFS and SSFS groups that followed or did not follow Skate Canada Long-term Athlete Development Model off-ice training recommendations (15 minutes off-ice training for every on-ice hour) (÷2 = 2.801, p>0.05).<p> SSFSs sustained more overuse injuries (8) than CFSs (4) and participated in significantly less hours of off-ice training and spent less time stretching. The overuse injury rates for 100 hours of off-ice training were 1.75 for SSFSs and 0.41 for CFSs. These findings suggest that more off-ice training in CFSs could have possibly served as an overuse injury prevention component in the cohort of this study.

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Title of diploma thesis: Specific foot changes in figure skaters and options for their physiotherapeutic intervention. Objective: The purpose of this thesis is to research available literary sources concerning anatomy, kinesiology and biomechanics of foot and foot arch in relation to specific foot changes resulting from figure skating. In addition, the thesis seeks to research various physiotherapeutic approaches which could be applied in prevention, compesation or therapy of these changes. Methods: This diploma thesis has descriptively-analytical character. It is structured in the form of literary research. Results: On the basis of the researched literary sources, this thesis provides a comprehensive picture on the topic of foot in figure skaters. Based on the research, the thesis identifies foot changes resulting from deformation of the foot in the skate. Subsequently, the thesis discussess the possible physiotherapeutic approaches which can be applied in prevention, compensation or therapy of these changes. Key words: foot, figure skating, flatfoot, physiotherapy

Trends in pairs figure skating have shown that increasingly difficult jumps have become an essential aspect of high-level performance, especially in the latter part of a competitive program. We compared a repeated jump power index in a 60 s repeated jump test to determine the relationship of repeated jump test to competitive rank and to measure 2D hip, knee, and ankle angles and angular velocities at 0, 20, 40, and 60 s. Eighteen National Team Pairs Figure Skaters performed a 60 s repeated jump test on a large switch-mat with timing of flight and ground durations and digital video recording. Each 60-s period was divided into 6, 10-s intervals, with power indexes (W/kg) calculated for each 10-s interval. Power index by 10-s interval repeated measures ANOVAs (RMANOVA) showed that males exceeded females at all intervals, and the highest power index interval was during 10 to 20 s for both sexes. RMANOVAs of angles and angular velocities showed main effects for time only. Power index and jumping techniques among figure skaters showed rapid and steady declines over the test duration. Power index can predict approximately 50% of competitive rank variance, and sex differences in jumping technique were rare.

We explore the use of machine learning to detect under-rotation in figure skating jumps. Under- rotation in jumps is difficult for the skater to sense but learning to recognize under-rotation is an impor- tant part of learning proper jump technique. To address this difficulty, we present the Under-rotation Monitor, or UR Monitor, a system for detecting under-rotated figure skating jumps in real-time. UR Monitor uses a single inertial measurement unit (IMU) attached to the skater's waist that sends a stream of accelerometer and gyroscope data to a mobile phone via Bluetooth. The mobile phone creates and sends an input vector of each jump to a web-hosted API that returns a response from our trained classifier indicating whether it considered that jump as 'under-rotated', or 'completed rotation'. The classifier is trained and tested on a collection of 444 jumps, of which only 121 are under-rotated. We also present a process for addressing an imbalanced dataset on which the classifier trains. Our classifier achieves an F1-score of only 0.66, suggesting that noise and imbalance in the data set are significant issues.

SOMATIC CHARACTERISTICS OF FEMALE FIGURE SKATERS IN THE CZECH REPUBLIC Objectives: The aim of the thesis is to find out specific somatic characteristics and somatotypes of female figure skaters in the Czech Republic. Subsequently relationships between measured somatic characteristics and normative of general population, and relationships between actual data and previous studies of female figure skaters are being examined. Methods: We use somatometric measurements to determine selected somatic characteristics (weight, height, eg.). We use the Heath-Carter method of somatotyping. Results: Female figure skaters are smaller than general population of the same age. In terms of physical height, one half of figure skaters is above population average while second half is under the average of population. Female figure skaters in this study are taller and heavier than figure skaters in previous study (Šelingerová, 1988) and they are more endomorphic. Prevailing somatotype is mesomorphic endomorph. Keywords: figure skating, somatic characteristics, somatotype, Heath-Carter method

Title: Evolution of Prize Money for the 1st places in selected sports Objectives: The main aim of this Master Thesis is to analyse evolution of prize money for winners in selected competitions and disciplines of golf, tennis, athletics and figure skating and prognosis of their evolution until 2020. Another goal is to compare the results of this prognosis and try to determine what influences the evolution. Methods: Methods used for prognosis of the future evolution are prognostic functions FORECAST and LOGLINTREND. Quality of prognosis is based on the Theil Index of Inequality. Trendline is also used to determine future evolution of the data. The correct trendline is chosen based on its reliability value. Results: Result of this theses is the discovery that prize money in history was progressively growing especially in traditional tournaments in tennis and golf. In younger series of competitions in figure skating and athletics prize money remained constant within the years. Prognosis suggests further increase in prize money in Grand Slam and Major tournaments and stagnation in Diamond League and ISU Grand Prix. Keywords: prize money, prognosis, professional sport, golf, tennis, athletics, figure skating

Trends in pairs figure skating have shown that increasingly difficult jumps have become an essential aspect of high-level performance, especially in the latter part of a competitive program. We compared a repeated jump power index in a 60 s repeated jump test to determine the relationship of repeated jump test to competitive rank and to measure 2D hip, knee, and ankle angles and angular velocities at 0, 20, 40, and 60 s. Eighteen National Team Pairs Figure Skaters performed a 60 s repeated jump test on a large switch-mat with timing of flight and ground durations and digital video recording. Each 60-s period was divided into 6, 10-s intervals, with power indexes (W/kg) calculated for each 10-s interval. Power index by 10-s interval repeated measures ANOVAs (RMANOVA) showed that males exceeded females at all intervals, and the highest power index interval was during 10 to 20 s for both sexes. RMANOVAs of angles and angular velocities showed main effects for time only. Power index and jumping techniques among figure skaters showed rapid and steady declines over the test duration. Power index can predict approximately 50% of competitive rank variance, and sex differences in jumping technique were rare.

Figure skating is a competitive sport that requires intensive training which can be taught in a variety of settings. There are various methods to teaching figure skaters new skills such as positive and corrective feedback, modeling and coaching procedures, and physical guidance. These different approaches may lead to a lack of consistency among coaches. Over the years, these established coaching strategies have not changed substantially as training methods are passed down from coach to student. Also, research in the area of what constitutes effective coaching methods is lacking. Skaters may progress more quickly in skill development if coaches are implementing empirically based successful coaching methods. These teaching approaches may also be enhanced by incorporating the latest technology available. This study evaluated the effectiveness of a video feedback coaching procedure using the Dartfish application. A multiple baseline design was utilized to document the impact of this video feedback coaching procedure on the demonstration of six established figure skating moves, three moves for one skater and three different moves for two other skaters. Results showed utilizing video feedback improved figure skater's performance levels on the targeted moves to an acquisition of 80% accuracy or higher.