MOMENT OF FORCE AND MECHANICAL POWER IN GIANT SWING ON THE HORIZONTAL BAR

Authors

  • Atsushi Okamoto
  • S. Sakurai
  • Y. Ikegami
  • K. Yabe

Keywords:

gymnastics, diving

Abstract

Introduction In the giant swing backwards, frictional force acts upon the grip and air resistance acts upon the whole body (Hay, 1978; and Kreighbaum and Barthels, 1981). These resistive forces affect the rotation of the body and cause a loss of mechanical energy. Therefore in order to complete the rotation, the gymnast has to offset these energy losses using muscular work (Hay, 1978). It has been reported that changes in mechanical energy occur during the backward giant swing. The total energy of the body is decreased during the second half of the downswing and almost recovered in the first half of the upswing. These results suggest that muscular work is done in the first half of the upswing to offset the loss of mechanical energy in the last half of the downswing (Okamoto, Sakurai, Ikegami and Yabe).

Downloads

Issue

Section

Muscle-Skeleton-Mechanics