Department of Sport and Physical Education, University of Valencia, Valencia, Spain.
Sports Biomech. 2010 Nov;9(4):245-57. doi: 10.1080/14763141.2010.537675.
Shock absorption and stability during landings is provided by both, gymnast ability and mat properties. The aims of this study were to determine the influence of different mat constructions on their energy absorption and stability capabilities, and to analyse how these properties affect gymnast's plantar pressures as well as subjective mat perception during landing. Six mats were tested using a standard mechanical drop test. In addition, plantar pressures and subjective perception during landing were obtained from 15 expert gymnasts. The different mats influenced plantar pressures and gymnasts' subjective perception during landing of gymnasts. Significant correlations between plantar pressures at the medial metatarsal and lateral metatarsal zones of the gymnasts' feet with the different shock absorption characteristics of the mats were found. However, subjective perception tests were not able to discriminate mat functionality between the six mats as no significant correlations between the mechanical mat properties with the subjective perception of these properties were found. This study demonstrated that plantar pressures are a useful tool for discriminating different landing mats. Using similar approaches, ideally including kinematics as well, could help us in our understanding about the influences of different mats upon gymnast-mat interaction.
着陆时的减震和稳定性既需要体操运动员的能力，也需要垫子的性能。本研究的目的是确定不同垫子结构对其能量吸收和稳定性能力的影响，并分析这些特性如何影响体操运动员的足底压力以及着陆时对垫子的主观感知。使用标准机械跌落测试对 6 种垫子进行了测试。此外，还从 15 名专家体操运动员那里获得了着陆时的足底压力和主观感知。不同的垫子影响了体操运动员着陆时的足底压力和主观感知。发现体操运动员足部的内侧跖骨和外侧跖骨区域的足底压力与垫子的不同减震特性之间存在显著相关性。然而，主观感知测试未能区分 6 种垫子之间的垫子功能，因为没有发现垫子机械性能与这些性能的主观感知之间存在显著相关性。本研究表明，足底压力是区分不同着陆垫的有用工具。使用类似的方法，理想情况下还包括运动学，可能有助于我们理解不同垫子对体操运动员-垫子相互作用的影响。
