A Kinematic Study of Back Tuck Somersault Take off Following Round off on the Floor Exercise

Abstract

Introduction: Backward take-off is one of the most important and frequently used components of a floor exercise routine in artistic gymnastics and can occur at any point of a routine.Methods: The purpose of the study was to investigate the biomechanical characteristics of dynamic take-off in backward salto performed by the five Indian Senior National Level male artistic gymnasts on the floor at the practice session in Sports Authority of India Training Centre, Salt Lake, Kolkata.  Results and Discussions: Data was captured at 24 frames /sec by two video cameras which permitted the calculation of kinematic data. Analysis of the data for male gymnasts revealed, that the most important performance factor determining salto height was the mean vertical velocity of the CG, at 4.11m/s at take-off. The mean horizontal velocity at touch-down was 6.92m/s and decreased to 2.61m/s at take-off and the mean take-off period was 0.14 sec. The mean touch-down angles and mean take-off angles of the CG to ground contact and the horizontal were 14.2?±5.89 and 83.2?±5.49. Conclusion: The study indicates that the take-off action of backward salto involved reduction in horizontal velocity and increase in vertical velocity which is due to the conversion of horizontal velocity to vertical velocity for lifting the body to a considerable height so that the gymnast can execute the skill during air borne position.

Keywords: Kinematic analysis, backward salto, Take-off, Floor exercise, CG.