Department of Movement Science, University of Muenster, Muenster, Germany.
Department of Movement Science, University of Muenster, Muenster, Germany; Otto Creutzfeld Center, University of Muenster, Muenster, Germany.
Hum Mov Sci. 2021 Feb;75:102740. doi: 10.1016/j.humov.2020.102740. Epub 2020 Dec 8.
Somersaults with or without twists are the most important elements in sports such as gymnastics or trampolining. Moreover, to perform elements with the highest possible difficulty gymnasts should show good form and execution during the flight phase. In order to ensure perfect body control and a safe landing, gaze behavior has been proven to be crucial for athletes to orientate in the air. As eye movement and head movement are closely coordinated, both must be examined while investigating gaze behavior. The aim of the current study is to analyze athletes' head motion and gaze behavior during somersaults with full twists. 15 skilled trampoline gymnasts performed back straight somersaults with a full twist (back full) on the trampoline. Eye movement and head movement were recorded using a portable eye-tracking device and a motion capture suit. The results indicate that gymnasts use the trampoline bed as a fixation point for orientation and control the back full, whereas the fixation onsets for athletes of a better performance class occur significantly later. A strong coordination between gymnasts' eye movement and head movement could be determined: stabilizing the gaze during the fixation period, the eyes move in combination with the head against the twisted somersault direction to counteract the whole body rotation. Although no significant differences could be found between the performance classes with regard to the maximum axial head rotations and maximum head extensions, there seems to be a trend that less skilled gymnasts need orientation as early as possible resulting in greater head rotation angles but a poorer execution.
空翻和带转体的空翻是体操或蹦床等运动项目中的重要元素。此外，为了在飞行阶段表现出尽可能高的难度，运动员应展现出良好的姿态和执行能力。为了确保完美的身体控制和安全着陆，研究表明，运动员的注视行为对于在空中定向至关重要。由于眼球运动和头部运动密切协调，因此在研究注视行为时必须同时检查这两者。本研究的目的是分析运动员在带转体的空翻中头部运动和注视行为。15 名熟练的蹦床运动员在蹦床上完成直体向后空翻转体 720 度（背转 720 度）。眼球运动和头部运动使用便携式眼动追踪设备和运动捕捉套装进行记录。结果表明，运动员使用蹦床床作为定向的固定点来控制背转 720 度，而表现更好的运动员的注视起始时间明显更晚。可以确定运动员的眼球运动和头部运动之间存在很强的协调性：在注视期间稳定视线，眼睛与头部一起朝与转体方向相反的方向移动，以抵消整个身体的旋转。尽管在最大轴向头部旋转和最大头部伸展方面，不同表现水平的运动员之间没有发现显著差异，但似乎存在一种趋势，即技术较差的运动员需要尽早定向，从而导致更大的头部旋转角度，但执行效果较差。
