Elbow joint variability for different hand positions of the round off in gymnastics

Abstract

The aim of the present study was to conduct within-gymnast analyses of biological movement variability in impact forces, elbow joint kinematics and kinetics of expert gymnasts in the execution of the Round-off with different hand positions. Six international level female gymnasts performed 10 trials of the round-off from a hurdle step to a back-handspring using two hand potions: parallel and T-shape. Two force plates were used to determine ground reaction forces.Eight infrared cameras were employed to collect the kinematic data automatically. Within gymnast variability was calculated using biological coefficient of variation (BCV) discretely for ground reaction force, kinematic and kinetic measures. Variability of the continuous data was quantified using coefficient of multiple correlations (CMC). Group BCV and CMC were calculated and T-test with effect size statistics determined differences between the variability of the two techniques examined in this study. The major observation was a higher level of biological variability in the elbow joint abduction angle and adduction moment of force in the T-shaped hand position. This finding may lead to a reduced repetitive abduction stress and thus protect the elbow joint from overload. Knowledge of the differences in biological variability can inform clinicians and practitioners with effective skill selection. Highlights · Change in technique results in change in movement variability· Increased variability in elbow joint abd/adduction in the T shaped technique · Lower repeatability for internal/external rotation angles suggests specific motor strategies

Biomechanical analysis of cross on training and competition

“…These authors showed increased elbow joint abduction torques and lower levels of biological variability (FARANA et al, 2015) in parallel technique round off skills.…”

“…Other gymnastics studies concerned about measuring and diminish shoulder loads on rings (BREWIN; YEADON; KERWIN, 2000), or analysed the combined kinetics with inverse dynamics analysis on floor exercise movements (FARANA; JANDACKA; IRWIN, 2013;FARANA et al, 2014;FARANA et al, 2015).…”

“…Recent investigations on gymnastics have advanced on movement techniques and upper limbs loads reduction, in order to avoid potential injury mechanisms due to repeated forces (FARANA et al, 2015). Observations from a study (FARANA et al, 2014) reduced variability in the parallel hand position, with the combined increased ground reaction forces.…”

“…Nonetheless, none of them had researched the kinematics of this posture, examined performance gains of cross on training rings conditions, considered the posture of this skill, or analysed individual's performance basis, as the trend in recent sport biomechanics studies (BUSQUETS et al, 2013;FARANA et al, 2015;WILLIAMS et al, 2011 Our study aims to advance the knowledge about the cross on rings by a skill analysis, resulting in the following topics: 1) the understanding of the skill, 2) the training specificity, comparing competition and training apparatuses, 3) safety, looking at shoulder biomechanics that may mean risk of injury.…”

“…The videos were digitised and data were filtered with a low-pass Butterworth filter, with appropriate cut-off frequency (5. adopted in other specific gymnastic tasks (FARANA et al, 2014;FARANA et al, 2015). Rings cables were defined by a vector from the gymnast's hands to the pivot attachment of the cables, and they were considered undeformable.…”