Tracking of markers placed on anatomical landmarks is a common practice in sports science to perform the kinematic analysis that interests both athletes and coaches. Although different software programs have been developed to automatically track markers and/or features, none of them was specifically designed to analyze underwater motion. Hence, this study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of a software developed for automatic tracking of underwater movements (DVP), based on the Kanade-Lucas-Tomasi feature tracker. Twenty-one video recordings of different aquatic exercises (n = 2940 markers' positions) were manually tracked to determine the markers' center coordinates. Then, the videos were automatically tracked using DVP and a commercially available software (COM). Since tracking techniques may produce false targets, an operator was instructed to stop the automatic procedure and to correct the position of the cursor when the distance between the calculated marker's coordinate and the reference one was higher than 4 pixels. The proportion of manual interventions required by the software was used as a measure of the degree of automation. Overall, manual interventions were 10.4% lower for DVP (7.4%) than for COM (17.8%). Moreover, when examining the different exercise modes separately, the percentage of manual interventions was 5.6% to 29.3% lower for DVP than for COM. Similar results were observed when analyzing the type of marker rather than the type of exercise, with 9.9% less manual interventions for DVP than for COM. In conclusion, based on these results, the developed automatic tracking software presented can be used as a valid and useful tool for underwater motion analysis. Key PointsThe availability of effective software for automatic tracking would represent a significant advance for the practical use of kinematic analysis in swimming and other aquatic sports.An important feature of automatic tracking software is to require limited human interventions and supervision, thus allowing short processing time.When tracking underwater movements, the degree of automation of the tracking procedure is influenced by the capability of the algorithm to overcome difficulties linked to the small target size, the low image quality and the presence of background clutters.The newly developed feature-tracking algorithm has shown a good automatic tracking effectiveness in underwater motion analysis with significantly smaller percentage of required manual interventions when compared to a commercial software.

F. Magalhães

Z. Sawacha

R. Di Michele

M. Cortesi

G. Gatta

S. Fantozzi

Journal of Sports Science and Medicine

JOURNAL OF SPORTS SCIENCE AND MEDICINE (JSSM) 是一本非盈利性科学电子期刊，发表运动医学和运动科学领域的研究和评论文章以及案例研究。 JSSM 每季在 3 月、6 月、9 月和 12 月发布。 JSSM 还出版社论、“致编辑的信”部分、国际和国家代表大会、小组会议、会议和专题讨论会的摘要，并可作为当前关注的重大问题的公开讨论论坛。

The Journal of Sports Science and Medicine (JSSM) is a non-profit scientific electronic journal that publishes research articles, review articles, and case studies in the fields of sports medicine and sports science. JSSM is published quarterly in March, June, September, and December. The journal also includes editorials, letters to the editor, abstracts from international and national conferences, panel meetings, and symposiums, serving as a public forum for discussing significant current issues.

《Journal of Sports Science and Medicine》（JSSM）是一份非盈利性的科学电子期刊，专注于运动医学和运动科学领域的研究、评论文章以及案例研究。JSSM 每年发布四期，分别在 3 月、6 月、9 月和 12 月。期刊还包括论文、致编辑的信件、国际和国家代表大会、小组会议、会议和专题讨论会的摘要，并为当前重大问题提供公开讨论的论坛。

Effectiveness of an automatic tracking software in underwater motion analysis.

The newly developed feature-tracking algorithm has shown a good automatic tracking effectiveness in underwater motion analysis with significantly smaller percentage of required manual interventions when compared to a commercial software.

Category	Quartile
医学	2
医学, 运动科学	2

Effectiveness of an automatic tracking software in underwater motion analysis.

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Journal Info

Category	Quartile
SPORT SCIENCES	2