A TEMPORAL ANALYSIS OF A STRONGMAN EVENT: THE TYRE FLIP

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to characterize the temporal aspects of a strongman event, the tyre flip, as performed by five athletes. A two-dimensional video analysis of each athlete performing two sets of six flips of a 232 kg tyre was performed. Descriptive statistics were calculated for all trials as well as the fastest and slowest three repetitions for each athlete. The slowest section of the tyre flip occurred when the tyre was 300-600 above horizontal. Comparison of the fastest vs slowest trials revealed that several temporal variables, particularly those occurring between 30o-60o above horizontal took significantly longer for the slowest than fastest repetitions. These results suggest that the ability to maintain a certain level of tyre angular velocity through the transition phase (300- 600 above horizontal) is a strong determinant of tyre flip performance.