Loughborough University
Browse

Functional variability in the flight phase of one metre springboard forward dives

Download (443.85 kB)
journal contribution
posted on 2018-06-12, 12:50 authored by Mohsen Sayyah, Michael HileyMichael Hiley, Mark KingMark King, Fred YeadonFred Yeadon
In springboard diving, low variability in takeoff conditions and in the somersault orientation angle at water entry is to be expected since consistency and accuracy are necessary for a good dive. A diver's adjustment of body configuration during flight may be a deliberate compensation for variations in takeoff conditions, leading to increased joint angle variability and decreased entry angle variability. The aim of this research was to investigate the extent to which a diver pre-plans the aerial phase and then makes adjustments in flight to control the entry angle in one metre springboard forward dives. Performances of 15 forward pike dives and 15 forward 2½ somersault pike dives, performed by an international diver were video recorded at 250 Hz. Joint centres during flight were digitized and their spatial coordinates were subsequently reconstructed using the Direct Linear Transformation in order to determine orientation and configuration angles. A computer simulation model was used to investigate the effects of variability in takeoff conditions and configuration variability in flight on the variability of the orientation angle at water entry. The amount of variation in the somersault orientation angle at entry as determined using simulations based on the variability in the takeoff conditions was four times greater than the variation in the recorded performances. It was concluded that the diver used open loop control for the first half of the flight phase and subsequently used feedforward and feedback control to make timing adjustments of hip and arm angles to reduce the variability of his entry orientation angle.

History

School

  • Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences

Published in

Human Movement Science

Volume

59

Pages

234 - 243

Citation

SAYYAH, M. ... et al, 2018. Functional variability in the flight phase of one metre springboard forward dives. Human Movement Science, 59, pp.234-243.

Publisher

© Elsevier

Version

  • AM (Accepted Manuscript)

Publisher statement

This paper was accepted for publication in the journal Human Movement Science and the definitive published version is available at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.humov.2018.04.014.

Acceptance date

2018-04-27

Publication date

2018-05-05

Copyright date

2018

ISSN

0167-9457

Language

  • en

Usage metrics

    Loughborough Publications

    Exports

    RefWorks
    BibTeX
    Ref. manager
    Endnote
    DataCite
    NLM
    DC