Waterloo researchers are at the forefront of addressing complex societal and health problems facing our world, and Dr. Devon Frayne, a human performance integration specialist in Waterloo’s Department of Kinesiology and Health Sciences, is one of them.
While working for the Canadian Sport Institute of Ontario (CSIO) as a sport scientist and biomechanist from 2014 to 2016, Frayne provided sport science support to provincial and national sport organizations, working with both able and para sport athletes, including those competing in wheelchair basketball.
Wheelchair basketball is one of the premier sports of the Paralympic Games. Like the stand-up version, there are five players for each team on the court, but to provide a competitive, fair and meaningful high-performance competition, each athlete is given a points score between 1 and 4.5, according to their specific impairment. The team’s sum must not exceed 14 points or five players, allowing people with various impairments to compete on the same team.
“For example, if the athlete has low mobility, muscle power, muscle function or use of their senses, they are awarded a smaller number, and those who have more function receive a higher number,” Frayne says.
It’s all about the chair
“I also took part in a really cool project where we fit people to their ‘game chairs,’” he says. “They are different than a standard wheelchair in that they’re very high-tech and made out of super light but strong materials, meant for better and faster movement.”
In the early days of wheelchair basketball competition, players used common stainless-steel wheelchairs that weighed approximately 30 pounds; today, these chairs are made from titanium or aircraft aluminum and designed for speed and sport.
A new wheelchair basketball chair can cost thousands of dollars, which can be a barrier for some players, in addition to the financial burden of travelling to compete, sourcing training opportunities and the general higher costs of living for people with disabilities.
“And the process to get the athlete fitted properly to their chair can take years,” Frayne says.
It takes a lengthy period of trial and error, from the tilt of the seat to the way the player is strapped into their chair, or how wide the wheels are to how far they sit from the centre of the wheelchair axel. The more they play and use the chair, the more answers they find as to what can be added, modified or eliminated.
The CSIO’s expert sport science team used force-sensing hand rims and 3D motion capture systems to assess the loads on the players’ bodies as they were pushing in the chairs, followed by discussions with the athletes on how they were feeling. Based on the information they received, the experts recommended changes to the athletes’ wheelchair setups prior to the Rio Paralympics.
In the Occupational Biomechanics and Ergonomics Lab (OBEL), where Frayne works, researchers are advancing digital human modeling (DHM), allowing designers, engineers and ergonomists to explore human-machine interactions virtually. Using DHM, Frayne suggests the possibility for further research, finding better ways to model how people could fit into these wheelchairs.
Prolonging their lives through sport
The human body adapts to stress. When people put pressure on their bones through walking, jumping and lifting weights, the bones grow thicker and stronger.
Those who can’t use their legs require other stimuli to keep muscles moving and blood flowing.
"Like for most able-bodied people, rigorous training can significantly improve the health of people with disabilities,” Frayne says. “For example, by improving aerobic capacity — which is crucial for many athletes — the heart doesn’t have to work as hard to supply the body with oxygen, and it’s a life changer for a lot of people."
Additionally, persons with a disability who participate in sports are more likely to overcome social isolation and become more self-reliant.
According to Statistics Canada, individuals with disabilities are more likely to participate in active leisure activities, but in contrast, are less likely to engage in transportation to or from sports, exercise or outdoor activities. They are also more likely to experience elevated levels of stress.
To increase the participation of persons with disabilities in sport, there is a need for early sport literacy and education, adequate access to training and facilities and an increase in opportunity for national competitions.
“Purely based on what I’ve seen, the barriers to achieving greatness in sport are more frequent and have a greater impact on paralympic athletes than their able-bodied counterparts,” Frayne says. “They are elite athletes that devote their entire life to their craft, and they should be recognized as such.”
The Paris 2024 Paralympic Games will take place from August 28 to September 8, featuring 22 sports and 23 disciplines such as blind football, para-archery, para powerlifting and many more. Check out the competition schedule.