Propulsive force symmetry generated during butterfly swimming

Abstract The aim of the study was to analyze the hand force symmetry in butterfly swimming. Fourteen male and female swimmers (18.4 ± 4.9 years old, 71.8 ± 14.6 kg of body mass, 1.78 ± 0.09 m of height and mean performance that corresponds to 74.9 ± 5.8% of the world record). Subjects performed three trials of 25 m of butterfly swimming at maximal speed. Mean and maximum forces were estimated for each hand using pressure sensors of the Aquanex System (Swimming Technology Research, USA). The comparisons between force values for dominant and non-dominant hands were made through Student’s T test for dependent samples (p