Eye, head, and body movements are thought to be functionally coupled in the performance of complex skills, such as somersaults with and without twists (Davlin et al. 2001; von Laßberg et al. 2014). Directing the gaze to specific locations in the environment during the takeoff phase in somersaults could influence takeoff kinematics and, as a consequence, the subsequent flight phase. The goal of this study was to investigate the relationship between gaze direction during takeoff and the corresponding movement kinematics when performing backward somersaults in cheerleading. N = 11 cheerleaders performed standing backward somersaults in three experimental conditions (straight gaze direction, elevated gaze direction, depressed gaze direction). Results revealed that cheerleaders exhibited a larger hip angle during takeoff and longer flight duration of the somersaults when their gaze was elevated during the takeoff phase, thereby supporting the notion that a functional coupling seems to operate between gaze behaviour and motor behaviour in cheerleading. In daily practice, cheerleaders could try to focus their gaze on a point on the wall in front of them during the takeoff phase in somersaults in order to facilitate the development of a functional coupling between gaze behavior and motor behavior.
Visual information is thought to be a dominant information source when performing whole-body movements in gymnastics. Visual information can furthermore facilitate performance when being engaged in situations of interpersonal coordination that may occur in sports such as synchronized trampolining. The question arises, which body-related visual cues are most important in the emergence of behavioral synchronization between two gymnasts in synchronized trampolining? To address this question, advanced gymnasts were asked to synchronize their performance to video-sequences of a model gymnast, while body-related visual cues of the model gymnast were systematically manipulated. Results revealed, first that biological motion cues are more important than nonbiological motion cues, and second that the perceived motion of the arms seems to drive synchronicity in synchronized trampolining. It is stated, that biological visual information of the arms is a dominant visual information source when performing leaps in synchronized trampolining.
Purpose. The aims of this study were, first, to investigate visual spotting and, second, to explore the functional relationships between movement structure and gaze behavior in gymnasts as they perform preparatory giant swings (traditional and scooped technique) and dismounts (single straight and double tucked salto) with increasing difficulty on the high bar. It was predicted that visual spotting would occur in all experimental tasks. Methods. Relationships between gaze behavior and movement kinematics were explored to provide a clearer picture of how gaze is interconnected with the kinematics of dismounts on the high bar. For this purpose, kinematic parameters were measured with an optical movement-analysis system while gaze behavior was measured by using a portable and wireless eye-tracking system. Results. The measurement of gaze behavior revealed that gymnasts use visual spotting in all three tasks showing fixations throughout the whole movement. Each task was furthermore characterized by a sequence of visual fixations that was thought to serve specific movement goals. In particular, fixations during the downswing phase of the preparatory giant swings were significantly correlated with the movement phases when beginning the hip extension and flexion in the “kick through” as well as with the athlete’s distance of flight during the dismounts. Conclusions. The findings suggest that gymnasts can use visual spotting during preparatory giant swings and dismounts on the high bar and that there are functional relationships between different fixations and specific movement goals.
It was explored whether three different applications of elastic tape on the lower limbs of active, healthy dancers influence their postural control performance. 15 active, healthy dancers randomly performed demi-pointes and sissone ouvertes on a force platform in four experimental conditions: 1. no tape application, 2. ankle joint tape application, 3. leg muscle tape application, and 4. control tape application. Four kinetic parameters were calculated in order to represent postural control performance: 1) variable error of force magnitude in forward-backward direction, 2) variable error of force magnitude in side to side direction. 3) peak impact force during landing phase and 4) episodes of overall duration. Results revealed a task-dependent performance-enhancing effect and an application-specific performance-influencing effect concerning vertical ground reaction force measurements. It is concluded that the application of elastic tape for healthy, active dancers may on the one hand enhance parameters of postural control, whereas the same elastic tape application may hamper other performance related aspects of typical modern and classical ballet dance routines. Conflicting scientific results may thus indicate that generalized effects are controversial and positive influences in one specific characteristic can induce a decrease in another performance influencing characteristic.
In gymnastics, most skills incorporate rotations about one or more body axes. At present, the question remains open if factors such as lateral preference and/or vestibulo-spinal asymmetry are related to gymnast's rotational preference. Therefore, we sought to explore relationships in gymnast's rotation direction between different gymnastic skills. Furthermore, we sought to explore relationships between rotational preference, lateral preference, and vestibulo-spinal asymmetry. In the experiment n = 30 non-experts, n = 30 near-experts and n = 30 experts completed a rotational preference questionnaire, a lateral preference inventory, and the Unterberger-Fukuda Stepping Test. The results revealed, that near-experts and experts more often rotate rightward in the straight jump with a full turn when rotating leftward in the round-off and vice versa. The same relationship was found for experts when relating the rotation preference in the handstand with a full turn to the rotation preference in the straight jump with a full turn. Lateral preference was positively related to rotational preference in non-expert gymnasts, and vestibulo-spinal asymmetry was positively related to rotational preference in experts. We suggest, that gymnasts should explore their individual rotational preference by systematically practicing different skills with a different rotation direction, bearing in mind that a clearly developed structure in rotational preference between different skills may be appropriate to develop more complex skills in gymnastics.
The basketball jump shot as a movement, allowing visual feedback based corrections, can be considered as a generalized or a specialized motor skill. The purpose of this study is to look into the connection between visual perception and the specialization of a motor skill. Therefore, six male basketball players were asked to perform jump shots under different viewing conditions from their favourite spot (sweet spot) and a second, middle-distance spot. The question was, if performance is affected by the changed visual conditions and whether the shooting spot plays a role in a potentially change in performance. The different visual conditions were first, a regular basketball hoop with no adjustment, second a regular basketball hoop with a covered backboard, and third a regular basketball hoop with a covered rim. Between the different visual conditions, performance did not differ significantly, neither from the sweet spot, nor from the neutral defined spot. However, players showed a significantly better performance from sweet spot than from the neutral spot under regular viewing conditions.
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