BIOMECHANICS OF AIRBORN TWISTING SOMERSAULTS

Abstract

The mechanics of twisting somersaults have received considerable attention from scientists in recent years. It has been shown that the function of an asymmetrical arm swing pattern is to cause the body to leave the salto rotation plane, thereby creating a component of angular momentum around the longitudinal axis of the body. A newly defined "Coriolis Index" has been developed for computer diagnostic evaluation of arm swing patterns in airborn twisting somersaults (Liu and Nelson, 1983). The purpose of the present study was to devise an interactive computer graphics technique by which the complex mechanical features of twisting somersaults could be shown visually and thereby assist coaches and athletes in their understanding of this movement.