ABSTRACT
CONTENTS 17.1 Introduction ............................................................................................. 489 17.2 Biomechanical Simulation Studies of Gymnastics Vaulting............ 491 17.3 Model Development............................................................................... 494 17.4 Model Evaluation.................................................................................... 500 17.5 Defining an Optimization Criteria....................................................... 502 17.6 Technique of the Optimized Vault ...................................................... 506 17.7 Other Considerations ............................................................................. 508 17.8 Conclusion ............................................................................................... 509 Appendix............................................................................................................. 510 References ........................................................................................................... 510
Sports biomechanists typically provide the scientific basis that enable coaches to teach sports techniques and injury prevention by means of analyzing and reviewing movement performance data. The usual approach is to identify key performance variables by means of statistical methods or inductive analysis. Cinematographic studies have provided insights into the performance of a variety of gymnastics vaults. However, this understanding is limited only to the examples analyzed and cannot be generalized to understand the effects of technique variations beyond observed performances. In other words, they cannot answer the ‘‘what if?’’ questions. Although a well controlled experiment can provide an explanation for the observed outcome, the power of such experiments is also limited, as changes in one aspect of technique may inadvertently result in other changes in the movement that may influence the final outcome [1].
