The faster, the better? Relationships between run-up speed, the degree of difficulty (D-score), height and length of flight on vault in artistic gymnastics

Abstract

On vault in artistic gymnastics, a high run-up speed is thought to be important when performing difficult vaults. To test this assumption in a large cohort of elite athletes, we calculated the correlations between the run-up speed, scores, height and length of flight for handspring-, Tsukahara- and Yurchenko-style vaults and compared the performances of male and female elite and junior athletes (n = 407) during the 2016 European Championships. In females, run-up speed correlated significantly with the difficulty (D-) score and height of flight for all vaulting styles (r ≤ 0.80). In males, run-up speed correlated significantly with the D-score, height and length of flight of Tsukahara (r ≤ 0.69) and Yurchenko vaults only (r ≤ 0.65). Males reached 8–9% higher run-up speeds performing handspring and Tsukahara vaults than did females, but similar run-up speeds performing Yurchenko vaults. Elite females achieved higher run-up speeds than junior females performing Yurchenko vaults. Elite males displayed higher run-up speeds than junior males performing handspring and Tsukahara vaults. We conclude that, in females, more difficult vaults require higher run-up speeds than vaults with lower D-scores and thus, within the measured range of speeds, the faster the run-up, the better, regardless of vaulting style. Males, on the other hand, may not need to exhaust their sprinting capacity, even for the most difficult vaults. Finally, the knowledge of the required run-up speed for each vault helps coaches to estimate each athlete’s potential and/or to focus the training on developing the required physical qualities.

Physical determinants of vault performance and their age-related differences across male junior and elite top-level gymnasts

“…Correlation coefficients were compared according to Eid, Gollwitzer [19]. The model was created based on findings of previous studies that found 1) that D-score on vault is closely related with run-up velocity [7], 2) that maximal sprint speed represents the exploitable potential during run-up, 3) that (any) sprint speed is determined as the product of step length and step frequency [13] and 4) that lower body power is important in order to perform fast sprints over short distances [20]. Age-related differences of D-score, run-up speed, run-up kinematics and lower body power were calculated only for Ha/Ts vaults, due to the small number of athletes that performed Yu vaults.…”

“…In this context it must be mentioned that the different vault styles Handspring, Tsukahara and Yurchenko (Fig 1) require different levels of run-up speed. Handspring and Tsukahara (Ha/Ts) style vaults are generally performed with higher run-up speeds than Yurchenko (Yu) style vaults [7]. Contrary to Ha/Ts vaults (forward take-off from vaulting board), for Yu vaults, the gymnasts perform a round-off in front of the vaulting board and backwards handspring on the vaulting table.…”

“…On the one hand, these elements allow the athlete to generate the necessary angular momentum and vertical velocity for the second flight phase, but on the other hand they also restrain the run-up speed due to the limiting mechanical behavior of locomotion of the upper limbs [8]. Nevertheless, in order to perform a more difficult vault and thus to have a better chance to achieve a high final score, in general a greater run-up speed is required [7]. The vault run-up was previously described as a 20m-acceleration followed by 5m of maintaining the speed in order to hit the vault board optimally and to be able to perform the planned vault [2].…”

“…The different first flight phases of the three most important vault styles in male’s artistic gymnastics. Left: Handspring; middle: Tsukahara; right: Yurchenko [7]. …”

“…The second purpose was to investigate age-related differences in physical determinants of vault performance across junior and elite top-level gymnasts. The analyses were done separately for the vault styles Ha/Ts and Yu as it might be assumed that the performance depends on different factors for these two categories of vaults [7].…”