Biomechanical agreement between different imitation jumps and hill jumps in ski jumping

Abstract

Even though the take‐off in ski jumping is decisive, athletes only have a very limited number of training trials on the actual ski jump to practice under real ski jump conditions. Hence, various imitation jumps aiming to mimic the hill jump are performed during daily training. These imitation jumps should therefore mimic the kinematic pattern of hill jumps appropriately. This study aimed to identify imitation jumps that resemble hill jumps regarding four performance‐related biomechanical criteria: maximal vertical take‐off velocity, maximal knee extension velocity, maximal forward‐directed angular momentum and anterior shift of the center of mass. Therefore, a three‐dimensional analysis of the take‐off during six different modalities of imitation jumps as well as hill jumps for validation was carried out in nine professional ski jumpers. Imitation jumps from a rolling platform show better agreement than stationary jumps and three out of the four parameters were best resembled via an imitation jump that included ski jumping boots. Thus, non‐hill take‐off training should be performed with complex imitation jumps to mimic the actual ski jump. Except for the vertical take‐off velocity, we could identify one imitation jump type that is not statistically different to the hill. Consequently, the individual deficiencies of the athletes can be addressed and specifically trained using the appropriate imitation jump. These information about the similarity between imitation jumps and real hill jumps are highly relevant for trainers and athletes in order to effectively design their training programs.

Machine Learning Tools Applied for Training Optimization in Handball

“…The countermovement drop jump and the bounce drop jump are two well-known types of drop jumps, and the current study looked at how eight weeks of practice with these drop jump methods affected countermovement jump height. When it comes to increasing countermovement leap height, the countermovement drop jump can be superior to the bounce drop jump [12,13]. A credible, trustworthy, and practical tool for determining leap height is ADR-Jumping [14].…”

Progress in Ski Jumping Technology Based on Biomechanical Sport Research Methods

“…Athletes who fly farther tend to have higher attitude scores. According to the kinematic characteristics, flight distance is usually divided into four stages: in-run, take-off, flight, and landing [4,5]. The flying distance of ski jumping is underpinned by the weight of the athlete, aerodynamic forces during flight, and the initial flight velocity after take-off [6].…”

“…The present study aims to obtain the kinematic and biomechanical expression characteristics of each stage of ski jumping. Ski jumping technology has rapidly developed in terms of flight technology and training quality [5]. Since the 1920s, scholars from various countries, including Norway, Austria, Germany, and Japan, have measured and studied sports performance [2].…”

“…The body posture of ski jumpers significantly impacts their flight distance. Thus, the kinematic characteristics of ski jumpers have been extensively studied in the field of sports biomechanics [5,23,24]. Some studies have shown that vertical CoM take-off velocity contributes to ski jumping distance [11,25].…”

“…The research above serves as the foundation for imitation jumps during daily training. Various imitation jumps aiming to mimic the kinematic pattern of hill jumps appropriately are performed during daily training [5,31]. Some studies have suggested considerable differences between the take-off during hill jumps and imitation jumps [13,32].…”