The Structure of Selected Basic Acrobatic Jumps

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate the relationships between the internal and external structure of basic acrobatic jumps. Eleven healthy elite artistic gymnasts (9 female, 2 male) participated in this study. Participants performed the following basic ‘acrobatic’ jumps: a tucked backward somersault (TS), a piked backward somersault (PS), and a countermovement jump (CMJ). Furthermore, female gymnasts also performed the backward handspring (HS), taking off and then landing on their hands in the same place – a specific jump only for women. All jumps were initiated from a stationary upright posture and with an arms swing. Six infrared cameras, synchronized with a module for wireless measurement of the electrical activity of eight muscles, and the force plate were used. Infrared camera-recordings were made in order to obtain kinematic variables describing the movement structure of the acrobatic jumps. These variables may explain the characteristics of muscle activation (the internal structure of the movement) and ground reaction force (the external-kinetic structure of the movement). However, for various technical reasons, it was not possible to register all the specified jumps in the protocol. Moreover, the distribution normalities, estimated by the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test, differed between variables. Therefore, to compare the data, the pair-wise nonparametric Wilcoxon Signed-Ranks Test was applied. The CMJ showed the highest level of vertical impulse, velocity, and displacement followed by the TS, PS, and HS. In the take-off phase of acrobatic jumps with rotation the average muscle activation levels of the biceps femoris were significantly higher and of the rectus femoris significantly lower than in the countermovement jump.

Analysis of Fluency of Movement in Parkour Using a Video and Inertial Measurement Unit Technology

“…On the other hand, in contrast with more traditional sports, which pursue the achievement of quantitative goals (time, score, order of arrival), where fluidity may be unnecessary to achieve the goal, pursuing higher levels of movement fluency is a distinctive element of high-performance quality in parkour. This characteristic makes parkour more similar to gymnastics and acrobatics, where fluency is among the valuable features in evaluating movement ( Król et al, 2020 ), and techniques adopted to perform athletic gestures specifically aim at improving fluency ( Takei and Dunn, 1996 ). Indeed, in parkour, aesthetic criteria are at the core of performance evaluation, and the sport is further developing in this direction among younger communities of participants.…”