Analysis of Tug of War Competition: A Narrative Complete Review

Abstract

Tug-of-war (TOW) is an internationally played activity including professional and amateur athletes, defined as early as 4000 years ago (as a rope-less version) in the artwork on Egyptian tomb engravings, and is played as per the rules laid out by TWIF, which has 73 member countries and administrative headquarters in the USA. Typically, two teams of “pullers” participate and apply enormous contra directional forces on the pulling rope. Originally, two types of competition are used: knockout and points. This narrative review describes the scientific state of the art of TOW. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, no previous information has been published on this topic. Anthropometric parameters for competitors are near 83.6, lean body mass 69.4, and body fat 16. The VO2MAX is 55.8 mL/kg/min. In terms of relative strength, the dynamic leg power is 4659.8 N. Endurance TOW elicits minimal muscle damage. Injured strains and sprains comprised over half of all injuries: back (42%), shoulder–upper limb (23%) and knee (17%). Pulling movement in TOW contests can be divided into three phases, namely the “drop”, “hold” and “drive” phases. The maximal pulling force was 1041.6 ± 123.9 N. The percentage of dynamic pulling force in the static maximal pulling force was 75.5 ± 14.4% and the dynamic ranged from 106.4 to 182.5%. There are two gripping styles: indoor and outdoor. The friction characteristics between surface and shoe in TOW is important in determining a suitable shoe for indoor TOW. A waist belt might be a useful piece of equipment for TOW sport. The EMG technique in TOW entails a high degree of dorsal muscle activity during the pulling. The factor of force vanishing was the coordination among athletes. The force vanishing percentage goes from 8.82 ± 5.59 for two contenders to 19.74 ± 2.22 for eight athletes, 6.4% in the sum of two pullers. However, in the drop phase, for female elite TOW team, only the 0.5% of the pulling force was wasted. Future studies are need in order to understand better this historical sport activity.

Diferencias cinemáticas en el Tug of War indoor y outdoor: Estudio de caso

“…It is important to take into account that in order to improve the grip on the ground and the traction that the pullers make, in the outdoor modality, all perform a rotation of the lower part of the trunk towards the right side. This rotation allows them to place their feet sideways on the ground, and to be able to pull with a greater surface area on the mud (Cayero et al, 2022). Regarding the differences registered in the lower body, many of them are conditioned to a large extent by the material used.…”

“…Although it is a sport with a long history and practiced all over the World, (being of the oldest), little research has been published about performance parameters (Cayero et al, 2022).…”

The mathematics and mechanics of tug of war

“…Tug of war (also known as tug o' war, tug war, rope war, rope pulling, or tugging war) refers to "an athletic contest between two teams who haul at the opposite ends of a rope, each trying to drag the other over a line marked between them" [1]. Tug of war has a rich history and unclear origins and is arguably one of the oldest known games in humanity, played for ritual, political, military, commemorative, sportive, or recreational (1) purposes in various cultures [2][3][4]. Its most ancient representations can be traced back to as early as the Bronze Age 1 [5], and historical and mythological variants can be found galore, for example, in ancient Greece [6], Cambodia, 2 China [4], India, 3 Afghanistan, Japan, Korea, South America, Europe, and Togo; as well as in Inuit traditions [7] or Scandinavian legends [8].…”

“…Tug of war has a rich history and unclear origins and is arguably one of the oldest known games in humanity, played for ritual, political, military, commemorative, sportive, or recreational (1) purposes in various cultures [2][3][4]. Its most ancient representations can be traced back to as early as the Bronze Age 1 [5], and historical and mythological variants can be found galore, for example, in ancient Greece [6], Cambodia, 2 China [4], India, 3 Afghanistan, Japan, Korea, South America, Europe, and Togo; as well as in Inuit traditions [7] or Scandinavian legends [8]. Rope pulling is now a codified sport [9], played in all countries in the world by amateur and professional athletes.…”

Analysis of Physical Demands in Four Tug of War World Indoor Championships (2010–2016)

“…This would help in the preliminary diagnosis for decision making regarding program design, establishing training objectives, applying specific tests and any other evaluation in sports planning [10]. However, to the best of the authors' knowledge, and based on a recent work published by our research group [11], in which the state of the art has been compiled, we have identified that no previous articles have described the duration of the indoor pulls, and even fewer data have been obtained during a follow-up on the best TOW athletes in the world during the highest level of competition. Therefore, the main aim of this article was to analyze the durations of the matches, differentiating between the first (T1) and second pull (T2) of each match.…”