Abstract
Background: A vaulting performance takes a short time and it is influenced by and affects the quantity of mechanical variables. After the 2000 Olympic Games, the traditional horse was replaced by a new vaulting table. While the biomechanical data of vaulting using the new table (post 2000 Olympic competition) are not available yet, there is a question what the current technique of handspring performed by top-level female gymnasts looks like. Objective: The aim of the study is to determine the biomechanical factors that govern success in the performance of the handspring and front somersault vaults. Methods: Eight top-level female gymnasts participated in this study. For the 3D spatial movement analysis, two digital camcorders with a frame rate of 50 fields per second were used. The data was digitized by the Simi motion software. The method of Hay and Reid (1988) was used to identify the biomechanical variables that determine the linear and angular motions of the handspring and front somersault vaults. A correlation analysis was used to establish the strength of the relationship between the causal biomechanical variables and the judges' scores. The level of statistical significance was determined at the value of p < 0.05. Results: Five out of 23 examined variables showed significant correlations with the scores. A significant correlation was found in the vertical height of the body center of mass during the take-off from the vaulting table (r = 0.86), in the maximum height of the body center of mass in the second flight phase (r = 0.83), in the change of the horizontal velocity during the phase of the take-off from the vaulting table (r = -0.69), in the horizontal component of the velocity during the spring from the vaulting table (r = 0.75) and in the duration of the second flight phase (r = 0.69). Conclusions: The phase of the take-off from the vaulting table is a crucial phase of the vault. Top-level artistic female gymnasts are able to execute the take-off from the vaulting table in a relatively short period of time with a full extent of the movement (maximization of the height of the body center of mass at the board take-off). The take-off from the vaulting table is executed at a high vertical and horizontal velocity that ensures a sufficient height of the vault and landing distance of from the vaulting table. The longer time of the second flight allowed gymnasts to complete the rotation motion during the second flight phase and perform a controlled and safe landing.
Highlights
The aim of artistic gymnastics is to find an optimal way of the motion action to achieve the best sport performance
This study focuses on a kinematic analysis of vaults from group 2 which are front handspring and front somersaults, with rotations around the vertical axis, in the second flight phase (Federation Internationale de Gymnastique, 2009), executed by the artistic female gymnasts who participated in the World Cup competition
The descriptive statistics (M ± SD), correlation coefficients (r) and the coefficient of determination (r2) for the time, velocity, spatial and angular parameters of the eight vaults executed by the artistic female gymnasts from group vaults 2 that achieved the highest score are outlined in TABLE 1 and 2
Summary
The aim of artistic gymnastics is to find an optimal way of the motion action to achieve the best sport performance. The technique is one of the most important factors in gymnastics performance. In the continuous rotation vaults, such as the handspring vault, the direction of the body rotation around the somersaulting axis in the second flight phase is the same as that in the first flight phase (Takei, Blucker, Nohara, & Yamashita, 2000). After the 2000 Olympic Games, the traditional horse was replaced by a new vaulting table. While the biomechanical data of vaulting using the new table (post 2000 Olympic competition) are not available yet, there is a question what the current technique of handspring performed by top-level female gymnasts looks like
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