A two-segment simulation model of long horse vaulting

King, Mark A.; Yeadon, Maurice R.; Kerwin, David G.

doi:10.1080/026404199366028

Cited by 12 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 17 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…A fixed touchdown angle at landing of 35° short of vertical was used, as this was the optimum angle found by (King, Yeadon & Kerwin, 1999) and was close to the mean value of 34° for handspring somersault vaults (Takei and Kim, 1990). The corresponding height of the mass centre of the model at landing was calculated to be 0.74 m and was used in all optimisation simulations for consistency.…”

Section: Optimisationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Optimal technique for maximal forward rotating vaults in men’s gymnastics

Hiley

Jackson

Yeadon

2015

Human Movement Science

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In vaulting a gymnast must generate sufficient linear and angular momentum during the approach and table contact to complete the rotational requirements in the post-flight phase. This study investigated the optimisation of table touchdown conditions and table contact technique for the maximisation of rotation potential for forwards rotating vaults. A planar seven-segment torque-driven computer simulation model of the contact phase in vaulting was evaluated by varying joint torque activation time histories to match three performances of a handspring double somersault vault by an elite gymnast. The closest matching simulation was used as a starting point to maximise post-flight rotation potential (the product of angular momentum and flight time) for a forwards rotating vault. It was found that the maximised rotation potential was sufficient to produce a handspring double piked somersault vault. The corresponding optimal touchdown configuration exhibited hip flexion in contrast to the hyperextended configuration required for maximal height. Increasing touchdown velocity and angular momentum lead to additional post-flight rotation potential. By increasing the horizontal velocity at table touchdown, within limits obtained from recorded performances, the handspring double somersault tucked with one and a half twists, and the handspring triple somersault tucked became theoretically possible.

show abstract

Section: Optimisationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Optimal technique for maximal forward rotating vaults in men’s gymnastics

Hiley

Jackson

Yeadon

2015

Human Movement Science

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Fifteen body landmarks (wrist, elbow, shoulder, hip, knee, ankle and toe on both sides of the body plus the centre of the head) were digitised manually throughout the movements. A DLT reconstruction (Abdel-Aziz and Karara, 1971) was then used to synchronise the digitised data (Yeadon and King, 1999) and obtain 3D coordinate time histories of each digitised body landmark. The 3D data were used to obtain orientation and configuration angles and quintic splines were fitted (Wood and Jennings, 1979) to determine mass centre velocity and whole body angular momentum about the mass centre (Yeadon, 1990a, c).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…They found that gymnasts performing the Hecht vault had longer, lower and faster preflights with slower rotation at horse contact compared to handspring somersault vaults. Only very simple two-segment models have been developed for the Hecht vault (Sprigings and Yeadon, 1997;King et al, 1999)). These models have been used to give a basic understanding of the mechanics underlying the performance of the Hecht vault and have demonstrated that the kinematics at touchdown with the vaulting horse are important with a high initial horizontal velocity required for a successful performance.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Factors influencing performance in the Hecht vault and implications for modelling

King

Yeadon

2005

Journal of Biomechanics

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This paper investigated the factors that influence Hecht vault performance and assessed the level of model complexity required to give an adequate representation of vaulting. A five-segment planar simulation model with a visco-elastic shoulder joint and a torque generator at the shoulder joint was used to simulate the contact phase in vaulting. The model was customised to an elite gymnast by determining subject-specific segmental inertia and joint torque parameters. The simulation model was matched to a performance of the Hecht vault by varying the visco-elastic characteristics of the shoulders and the arm-horse interface and the activation time history of the shoulder torque generator until the best match was found. Perturbing the matching simulation demonstrated that appropriate initial kinematics are necessary for a successful performance. Fixing the hip and knee angles at their initial values had a small effect with 3° less rotation. Applying shoulder torque during the contact phase also had a small effect with only a 7° range in landing angles. Excluding the hand segment from the model was found to have a moderate effect with 15° less rotation and the time of contact reduced by 38%. Removing shoulder elasticity resulted in 50° less rotation. The use of a five-segment simulation model confirmed that the use of shoulder torque plays a minor role in vaulting performance and that having appropriate initial kinematics at touchdown is essential. However, factors such as shoulder elasticity and the hands which have previously been ignored also have a substantial influence on performance.

show abstract

“…An increase in skill complexity can be associated with an increase in the height required to complete the skill (Takei, 1988;King et al, 1999). Ground impact forces generally increase with greater drop height (Dufek and Bates, 1990;McNitt-Gray et al, 1993) and greater impact forces suggest a greater injury risk to the lower extremity.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%