## 2 Materials and Methods
### Protocols and Materials  
Participants performed a battery of three tests consisting of six 20 m sprints (SP), horizontal upper limb ballistic push-offs (HBP) with different masses to displace, and crank ergometer all-out sprints (CES). Before each test, players performed a specific warm-up. The six sprints were performed on a wooden floor and the warm-up consisted of 5 min of wheelchair displacement in circles in the gymnasium, followed by some short accelerations. The best of the six sprints was kept to data processing. Wheelchairs were equipped with three dimensions (x, y, and \(z\)-axis) Inertial Measurement Units (IMU) on each rear wheel (WheelPerf System, AtoutNovation, Versailles, France, 128 Hz). The IMUs were placed with the \(z\)-axis perpendicular to the plane of the wheel [23,24]. The size of the rear wheels, the mass of the participants, and the mass of their wheelchairs were recorded. The start and end lines of the 20 m sprint were visibly marked, and the experimenters gave the start signal with a countdown. The warm-up on the horizontal ballistic push-off machine consisted of shoulder abduction/adduction, intern/extern rotation and shoulders and elbows, flexion/extension, and with elastics. A specific warm-up was carried out on the machine with low and moderate loads to familiarize the participants with the installation and the gesture demands. The experimentation design on the horizontal push-off machine involved two ballistic push-offs in a seated position on a frictionless sled (INPI deposit n\({}^{\circ}\)FR2011204) at fore load levels: 0, 15, 30, and 45% of the maximum force developed in an isometric test at the start position. The dynamic conditions were performed in a random order among the participants. They were asked to apply their force as rapidly as possible on the force plates (one under each hand) to reach the highest velocity at take-off. All trials were performed on two Kistler force plates (Kistler 9260 AA3 (0.5 \(\times\) 0.3 m), 2000 Hz) which recorded the three-dimensional (3D) ground reaction force (GRF) components produced by the right and left upper limbs. Horizontal displacement over time was recorded with an accuracy of 0.1 cm using a linear encoder attached to the sled. During the test on the arm crank ergometer, it was placed on a height-adjustable table. Participants used their basketball wheelchairs. To prevent movement between the participant and the wheelchair and between the wheelchair and the floor during the test, \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{l c c c c c} \hline \hline
**Participants** & **Women** & \multicolumn{2}{c}{**Men**} & \multicolumn{2}{c}{**All Participants**} \\
**Characteristics** & **(\(n=12\))** & \multicolumn{2}{c}{**(\(n=11\))**} & \multicolumn{2}{c}{**(\(n=23\))**} \\ \hline Body mass (kg) & 60 & (7) & 73 & (10) & 66 & (11) \\ Age (yrs) & 28 & (7) & 30 & (7) & 29 & (7) \\ Training age (yrs) & 8 & (6) & 12 & (5) & 10 & (6) \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table} 
Table 1: Participant characteristics. each participant was strapped at their thighs or hips according to their pathologies, and their wheelchair were fixed with ratchet straps to the floor. The axis of rotation of the cranks was aligned with the glenohumeral joint [22; 25]. The warm-up consisted of 3 min of self-selected cadence cranking at a resistance of 25 W followed by 3 min of low-intensity interval work with active rest periods (working and resting resistance of 100 and 15 W, respectively). At the end of the warm-up, participants performed a sub-maximal sprint without resistance for 15 s to accustom them to the movement with a high cranking speed. The test involved three short sprints with different levels of resistance (5 s duration with resistance and 10 s duration without resistance). The arm ergometer software used a torque factor (TF) to establish the resistance level, which was calculated as the torque value divided by the participant's body mass.