F7 (classification)
It is characterized by people having their lower limb muscles strength and function impacted.
People in the SP7 class generally have good sitting balance and some trunk movement backwards and forwards.
Classification into this class is overseen by International Wheelchair and Amputee Sports Federation (IWAS).
after having been originally handled International Stoke Mandeville Games Federation (ISMGF).
Comparable classes for F7 include F57 in athletics, S5 or S10 in swimming, LTA in adaptive rowing and 4 point player in wheelchair basketball.
[1][2] The location of lesions on different vertebrae tend to be associated with disability levels and functionality issues.
[5] People with lesions at the L4 to S2 who are complete paraplegics may have motor function issues in their gluts and hamstrings.
[6] Disabled Sports USA defined the functional definition of this class in 2003 as, "Have very good sitting balance and movements in the backwards and forwards plane.
"[1] In general, classification for spinal cord injuries and wheelchair sport is overseen by International Wheelchair and Amputee Sports Federation (IWAS),[7][8] having taken over this role following the 2005 merger of ISMWSF and ISOD.
[9][10] From the 1950s to the early 2000s, wheelchair sport classification was handled International Stoke Mandeville Games Federation (ISMGF).
[13] The International Paralympic Committee manages classification for a number of spinal cord injury and wheelchair sports including alpine skiing, biathlon, cross country skiing, ice sledge hockey, powerlifting, shooting, swimming, and wheelchair dance.
[21] Starting in the 1980s and going into the 1990s, this class began to be more defined around functional classification instead of a medical one.
[1][2] Field events open to this class have included shot put, discus and javelin.
[23] The shot put used by women in this class weighs less than the traditional one at 3 kilograms (6.6 lb).
It found there was little significant difference in performance in distance between women in 4, 5 and 6 in the shot put.
It found there was little significant difference in performance in distance between men in 4, 5 and 6 in the shot put.
It found there was little significant difference in performance in distance between men in 5 and 6 in the shot put.
[27][28] F7 swimmers competing as S10 tend to have lesions at S1 or S2 that has minimal effect on their lower limbs.
Swimmers in this class lack full propulsion in their kicks because of a slight loss of function in one limb.
It found there was little significant difference in performance times between women in 4 (SP5, SP6), 5 (SP6, SP7) and 6 (SP7) in the 14 x 50 m individual medley.
It found there was little significant difference in performance times between men in 5 (SP6, SP7) and 6 (SP7) in the 4 x 50 m individual medley.
This system used some muscle testing to determine which class incomplete paraplegics should be classified in.
Class III for people with lesions at T6-T10 and have fair balance were worth 1 point.
The system was designed to keep out people with less severe spinal cord injuries, and had no medical basis in many cases.
[22] This class would have been V.[22] In 1982, wheelchair basketball finally made the move to a functional classification system internationally.
While the traditional medical system of where a spinal cord injury was located could be part of classification, it was only one advisory component.
In this sport, people with incomplete spinal cord injury at S1 compete in LTA.
[36] One of the standard means of assessing functional classification is the bench test, which is used in swimming, lawn bowls and wheelchair fencing.
[34][37][38] Using the Adapted Research Council (MRC) measurements, muscle strength is tested using the bench press for a variety of spinal cord related injuries with a muscle being assessed on a scale of 0 to 5.
The sixth test measures the trunk extension involving the lumbar and dorsal muscles while leaning forward at a 45 degree angle.
