Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://bura.brunel.ac.uk/handle/2438/7055
Title: Effects of run-up velocity on performance, kinematics, and energy exchanges in the pole vault
Authors: Linthorne, NP
Weetman, AHG
Keywords: Sports biomechanics;Kinematics
Issue Date: 2012
Publisher: University of Uludag
Citation: Journal of Sports Science and Medicine, 11(2): 245 - 254, Jun 2012
Abstract: This study examined the effect of run-up velocity on the peak height achieved by the athlete in the pole vault and on the corresponding changes in the athlete's kinematics and energy exchanges. Seventeen jumps by an experienced male pole vaulter were video recorded in the sagittal plane and a wide range of run-up velocities (4.5-8.5 m/s) was obtained by setting the length of the athlete's run-up (2-16 steps). A selection of performance variables, kinematic variables, energy variables, and pole variables were calculated from the digitized video data. We found that the athlete's peak height increased linearly at a rate of 0.54 m per 1 m/s increase in run-up velocity and this increase was achieved through a combination of a greater grip height and a greater push height. At the athlete's competition run-up velocity (8.4 m/s) about one third of the rate of increase in peak height arose from an increase in grip height and about two thirds arose from an increase in push height. Across the range of run-up velocities examined here the athlete always performed the basic actions of running, planting, jumping, and inverting on the pole. However, he made minor systematic changes to his jumping kinematics, vaulting kinematics, and selection of pole characteristics as the run-up velocity increased. The increase in run-up velocity and changes in the athlete's vaulting kinematics resulted in substantial changes to the magnitudes of the energy exchanges during the vault. A faster run-up produced a greater loss of energy during the take-off, but this loss was not sufficient to negate the increase in run-up velocity and the increase in work done by the athlete during the pole support phase. The athlete therefore always had a net energy gain during the vault. However, the magnitude of this gain decreased slightly as run-up velocity increased.
Description: Copyright @ 2012 The Authors. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and 85 reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. The article was made available through the Brunel University Open Access Publishing Fund.
URI: http://www.jssm.org/vol11/n2/7/v11n2-7text.php
http://bura.brunel.ac.uk/handle/2438/7055
ISSN: 1303-2968
Appears in Collections:Sport
Publications
Brunel OA Publishing Fund
Dept of Life Sciences Research Papers

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