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Ivan Čuk
Editorial

Dear friends,

SCGYM 13 2 2021 journal

we are all waiting for OG to start in Tokyo. We expect the Games to be another step into the third milenium gymnastics. Nikita Nagorny with the triple salto backward piked on floor and Simone Biles with double piked Yurchenko on vault have already made such a step and on OG they will show it to the world audience.

With the June issue, we have added a DOI number to each article, as our university and sports faculty are authorized to generate DOI. With the unique DOI number your articles will be more visible in various publishing apps.  

We strongly recommend all authors to use Grammarly or Instatext (you can find them through any search program on www) before sending the text to the editor. Both tools are free and can improve your text.

The first article should support idea of »Mens sana in corpore sano«, but with the knowledge that a totalitarian regime has ordered it, shaded  a bit. 

And again, authors from different countries have contributed their knowledge and we are proud that the knowledge is spread.

Anton Gajdoš has prepared 21 short historical notes until today and introduced a short reminder on OG in Tokyo 1964.

Two exceptional gymnastics friends passed away from February. Istvan Bercy from Hungary (he was judge at 8 Olympic Games) and Jože Senica from Slovenia (he was judge at Barcelona OG, and coached Miroslav Cerar few years) went among the stars. Our condolences to family and friends. 

Just to remind you, if you cite the journal, its abbreviation in the Web of Knowledge is SCI GYMN J. I wish you an enjoyable read and many ideas for new research projects and articles.

Michal Bábela, Josef Oborný
THE SPARTAKIADE AS A PHENOMENON IN THE SOCIO-CULTURAL AND SPORTS DIMENSION IN THE TERRITORY OF CZECHOSLOVAKIA

SCGYM 13 2 2021 article 1

The aim of the article is to provide a description of the emergence and genesis of the Spartakiade in the territory of former Czechoslovakia. In the article, we focused on the origin and development of mass sport in Czechoslovakia since 1918, on the emergence and genesis of the Spartakiade and the definition of the term “Spartakiade”. In this paper, we also present a chronological name list and a brief course of individual Spartakiades that were held in the territory of Czechoslovakia within the period 1955 – 1985.

Keywords: history, physical culture, nation.

Thomas Lehmann, Alexander Winter, Alexander Seemann-Sinn, Falk Naundorf
USE OF OBJECTIVE METHODS TO DETERMINE THE HOLDING TIME OF HOLD ELEMENTS ON STILL RINGS

SCGYM 13 2 2021 article 2

The duration of holding elements represents a critical factor for judging routines on the still rings in artistic gymnastics. Athletes can be penalized with non-recognition of an element if the hold time is too short. Dynamometric and kinematic measuring methods offer the possibility to provide support to judges in evaluating the duration of the hold time. In this study a dynamometric method with two different variants (dms10 and dms5) as well as a kinematic method (kms) based on a trained neural network were presented and examined with regard to their agreement with judges’ evaluations when determining the hold time. To check the agreement, a) the percentage agreement and b) the interrater reliability were calculated using Cohen's kappa (k). The two dynamometric methods showed a percentage agreement of 83.5% (dms10) and 51.7% (dms5) with the hold time evaluation by judges. The percentage agreement of the kms was 38.8%. The interrater reliability showed for the dms10 a moderate (k = 0.58) and for the dms5 a fair (k = 0.23) agreement, while the kms showed a poor (k = 0.02) match. The results supported dms10 for its possible use as a practicable and reliable method to assist judges in evaluating hold times on the still rings. Dms5 and kms (in the current development stage) were not suitable as means of judges’ support.

Keywords: men’s artistic gymnastics, still rings, judging, hold time, measurement systems.

Stefan Kolimechkov, Iliya Yanev, Iliya Kiuchukov, Lubomir Petrov
KINEMATIC ANALYSIS OF DOUBLE BACK STRAIGHT SOMERSAULT AND DOUBLE BACK STRAIGHT SOMERSAULT WITH FULL TWIST ON RINGS

SCGYM 13 2 2021 article 3

The rings are one of the six apparatuses in men's artistic gymnastics. The final element in a rings’ routine is in many cases a crucial skill for scoring the routine. Most of the medallists on rings from the Olympic Games and World Championships for the last 20 years performed either the double back straight somersault or the double back straight somersault with a full twist. The purpose of this study was to conduct a kinematic analysis of double back straight somersault and double back straight somersault with a full twist on rings. The participants selected for this study were the world-class gymnasts Filip Yanev and Jordan Jovchev. The dismounts were recorded with a DV camera by following a standard method of kinematic analysis. During the execution phase, the ankle speed of Gymnast 1 reached 11.11 m/s and that of Gymnast 2 was 11.29 m/s, and the angular velocity increased substantially to 10.0 rad/s and 9.05 rad/s for Gymnast 1 and 2, respectively. The rotational impulse was sufficient for the successful execution of both dismounts. The actions of Gymnast 2 needed for the full twist, including a small arm asymmetry, began just before releasing the rings. The arching-to-piking action beneath the rings, as well as the powerful pull, combined with a sufficient swing of the legs, are crucial factors for the successful execution of the dismounts.

Keywords: artistic gymnastics, still rings, dismount, somersault.

Deborah Cecilia Navarro Morales, Eduardo Palenque in Jorge Deheza Justiniano
TAKE-OFF HIP EXTENSION ANGLE INFLUENCE ON THE TUCKED BACK SOMERSAULT PERFORMANCE

SCGYM 13 2 2021 article 4

Back somersault is a basic element of gymnastics; its performance is strongly influenced by the take-off phase. The present work aimed to study how hip extension in the take-off of the tucked back somersault influences the   velocity of rotation and the height of the somersault. To this end, we recorded a total of 60 somersaults by 4 gymnasts (i.e., 15 somersaults each). There were three groups of somersaults based on the instructions that were given to the gymnasts: no specific instruction, somersault as high as possible and rotate as fast as possible. The records were then analyzed in order to quantify the following variables: maximal height of the mass center and maximal body angular velocity during somersault, the hip angle and the knee angle at the take-off. Gymnasts seemed to be inclined to bend their knees rather than extend their hips in order to carry out the instruction.

Keywords: hip angle, angular velocity, mass trajectory center, back somersault.

Sebastian Möck, Alina Korrmann, Petra Nissinen in Klaus Wirth
ECCENTRIC PEAK TORQUE OF THE KNEE FLEXORS AND EXTENSORS RELATES TO BACKWARD SOMERSAULT HEIGHT IN FEMALE JUNIOR ARTISTIC GYMNASTS


SCGYM 13 2 2021 article 5 Artistic gymnastics consist of a high amount of jumping actions with rotations around one or more axes. To achieve an optimal flight height to perform the desired number of rotations, the movement pattern and the floor characteristics have to be concerted optimally. To account for the required leg stiffness to utilize the floor’s elasticity, the leg musculature has to generate high forces during the ground contact in an eccentric manner. Thus, eccentric strength of the knee musculature might play an important role for somersault height and run-up velocity in the vault. We investigated the correlation of eccentric peak torque of the knee flexors and extensors and vertical jumping height with backward somersault height and sprinting velocity in female junior artistic gymnasts. The results showed medium to strong, significant correlations between eccentric peak torque and backward somersault height as well as sprinting velocity. Vertical jumping height revealed significant correlations with somersault height and sprinting velocity. Eccentric strength seems to play an important role in joint stiffness regulation to utilize the elastic recoil of gymnastic floors and springboards. In the sprint approaching the vault, the same mechanism seems apparent and is in accordance with findings regarding the sprint in different sports.

.Keywords: artistic gymnastics, velocity, strength.

Merve Koca Kosova, Sercin Kosova
A COMPARISON OF TIME OF FLIGHT AND HORIZONTAL DISPLACEMENT SCORES IN TRAMPOLINE GYMNASTICS ROUTINES

SCGYM 13 2 2021 article 6

In trampoline gymnastics, elements with low difficulty values are given more place in the first routines in accordance with the international competition rules. In the second routines, because the difficulty value of all the elements performed earn points for the gymnast, elements with high difficulty values are preferred. This difference may affect other score types in the routines. Accordingly, the aim of this study was to compare the time of flight and horizontal displacement scores in first and second routines. The results of the 2019-2020 Trampoline Gymnastics Turkish Championship constituted the data of the study. In both competitions, both the entire group and the female and male groups were evaluated. Except for the 2019 male horizontal displacement scores, the time of flight and horizontal displacement scores of all groups were found to be statistically significantly lower in the second routines compared with the first routines (p<0.05). According to these results, the trampoline gymnasts preferred more complex and difficult elements to obtain high difficulty scores in the second routines in accordance with the international rules, which may have caused them to achieve lower time of flight and horizontal displacement scores compared with the first routines. Trainers and gymnasts should aim to increase the difficulty score without decreasing the total score while choosing elements for second routines. To find this difficulty level, trainings and trial competitions can be performed with routines with different difficulty scores.

Keywords: trampoline gymnastics, time of flight, horizontal displacement, difficulty.

Alena Kašparová, Kateřina Doležalová in Viléma Novotná
CREATION OF A TEST BATTERY FOR THE EVALUATION OF RHYTHMIC FEELINGS IN UNIVERSITY STUDENTS IN THE FIELD OF PHYSICAL EDUCATION AND SPORT

SCGYM 13 2 2021 article 7

Optimal movement rhythmisation is considered one of the basic prerequisites for improvements in the quality of movement performance using a particular technique. Well-developed rhythm-movement patterns play a role in successful learning of various physical activities as well as in athletic performance. University students – future PE and sports teachers – should improve their rhythmic feel skills during their studies so that they can use them later in their work and develop them in their future students. This requires the creation of a test battery for the evaluation of rhythmic feel skills through a series of music tests. This paper presents the results of tests taken by 121 university students at UK FTVS in Prague, the Czech Republic, and AWFIS in Gdaňsk, Poland. The test battery focused on three types of music-motor skills: perception skills and activities (items 1-18), reproduction skills and activities (items 19-27) and production skills and activities (item 28). The data were statistically processed using the classical test theory (factor analysis) and the item response theory (two-parameter model). Statistical methods also included reliability calculation and test validity. The expected rejection of the proposed hypothesis was confirmed both for the classical test theory and for the item response theory. The only exception was model 4 where, however, fit indices (especially TLI = 0.537) pointed more at a lack of evidence for hypothesis rejection than a perfect conformity of the model and data. The intention was to create and test models with the best data compliance. The best data compliance was found in models no. 1 and 5. Model 1 [CFI = 0.927, TLI=0.916, SRMR = 0.09, RMSEA (5 %) = 0.03, RMSEA (95 %) = 0.059] had a structure that corresponded to the proposed test battery and showed a relatively good compliance with data although IRT identified several problematic items. Model 5 [CFI = 0.956, TLI=0,942, SRMR = 0.073, RMSEA (5 %) = 0.03, RMSEA (95 %) = 0.111] was unidimensional (reproduction factor feeding items 19 through 27) and its fit indices showed better compliance of model and data. An optimised test battery should be developed based on these models followed by another validation of the test battery using statistical analyses.

Keywords: musical-motor skills, test battery, rhythm, factor analysis, item response theory.

Anita Lamošová, Oľga Kyselovičová, Petra Tomková
ANTHROPOMETRIC AND MOTOR CHANGES AFTER ONE-YEAR AEROBIC GYMNASTICS TRAINING IN YOUNG GYMNASTS

SCGYM 13 2 2021 article 8

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of one-year specific aerobic gymnastics training on selected anthropometric and motor parameters in 6-11-year-old girls. 23 girls (average age in the beginning of the study was 8.04 ± 1.22 years) were involved in the study representing 2 different aerobic gymnastics sports clubs in Slovakia. The selected group completed their regular trainings and competitions for a period of one year. Measurements were taken in January 2019 and January 2020, in the middle of the preparatory period. Normality of distribution of the traits was examined using the Shapiro-Wilk test. Data were analyzed using Wilcoxon signed-rank test. Considering anthropometric parameters, there were significant changes (p≤0.01) in body height, body weight and BMI. Considering motor parameters, the mean values of straddle support hold and back extension endurance test increased significantly to the level of p≤0.05. The mean values of 4x10m shuttle run, standing long jump, modified push-ups, sit-ups in 60s increased significantly to the level of p≤0.01. No significant changes were observed in bent arm hang test or hanging knee tucks. On the other hand, the values of 1 leg stand with eyes closed and 2-min endurance shuttle run decreased insignificantly.

Keywords: aerobic gymnastics, anthropometric changes, motor changes, motor abilities, sports training, young gymnasts.

Siahkouhian Marefat, Bahram Mohammad Ebrahim, Mogharnasi Mehdi
MUSCLE FLEXIBILITY AND EXPLOSIVE POWER IN YOUNG ARTISTIC GYMNAST BOYS AT DIFFERENT PERFORMANCE LEVEL

SCGYM 13 2 2021 article 9

A gymnast can not succeed without enough muscle strength and endurance. The aim of this study was to determine the differences between explosive power and flexibility in young boy gymnasts at different performance levels. Ninety-five young boys who participated in this study were divided into three groups: two artistic gymnast groups (N=53) and a sedentary (N=42) group. Artistic gymnasts were classified by their performance level and sports history to an elite (E, N=15) and/or a non-elite (Ne, N=38) group. The explosive power of subjects was determined via vertical and standing long jumps. The sit and reach flexibility test was used to determine lower body muscle flexibility. Our results showed that explosive power and flexibility test records were significantly different among the three groups (P≤0.001). They led to a conclusion that sport specific exercise training resulted in a concurrent improvement in explosive power and flexibility of young gymnasts.

Keywords: explosive power, flexibility, young gymnast.

George Dallas, Panagiotis Pappas, Costas Dallas, Giorgos Paradisis
ACUTE EFFECTS OF DYNAMIC AND PNF STRETCHING ON LEG AND VERTICAL STIFFNESS ON FEMALE GYMNASTS

SCGYM 13 2 2021 article 10

The purpose of the study was to investigate the acute effect of Dynamic (DS) and PNF stretching on leg (Kleg) and vertical stiffness (Kvert) on female gymnasts. Thirty-one female athletes from various types of gymnastics (artistic, rhythmic, team gymnastics) participated in this study ([Mean ± SD] age: 22.32 ± 3.35 years, height: 164.87 ± 4.96 cm, body mass: 57.20 ± 6.54 kg) performed 30 sec running bouts at 4.44 m *s-1, under 3 different stretching protocols (PNF, DS, and no stretching [NS]). The total duration in each stretching condition was 6 minutes, and each of the 4 muscle groups was stretched for 40 seconds. Leg and vertical stiffness values were calculated using the “sine wave” method. No significant influence of stretching type on Kleg and Kvert were found after DS and PNF stretching. However, significant changes were found in Fmax, Dy, flight time (tf), step rate (SR), and step length (SL) after DS and PNF stretching protocol, indicating that DS produced greater changes compared to PNF protocol.

Keywords: warm-up activities, kinematic, kinetic, gait.

Berfin Serdil Örs, Işık Bayraktar, Emre Bağci, Mustafa Altunsoy, H. Ahmet Pekel
THE INVESTIGATION OF APPROACH RUN IN TERMS OF AGE, GENDER, BIO-MOTOR AND TECHNICAL COMPONENTS ON VAULTING TABLE

SCGYM 13 2 2021 article 11

Vault is one of the main apparatuses for both female and male gymnasts in artistic gymnastics (AG). The optimal vaulting technique depends on many variables, such as the approaching run. Gymnastics is one of the early specialization sports as it is necessary to start training at an early age. For this reason, the aim of the current study was to investigate the relationship among age, biomotor and technical components in relation to the approach run velocity and other variables in AG. Furthermore, similarities and differences between genders were researched. Twenty female and twelve male gymnasts took part in the study. Speed, agility, explosive power, run-up velocity were measured. Additionally, Reactive Strength Index (RSI) and Peak High Velocity distances (PHV_Distance) were calculated. Kinematic parameters during the handspring vault were calculated by a two-dimensional video analysis. A statistical comparison between genders was performed by the Mann Whitney U test. The relationships between parameters were given by Spearman correlation coefficients (r). Anaerobic power, 0-20 m speed, 20 m speed velocity, and the hand contact time were significantly different between genders (p<0.05). The approach run significantly correlated with the chronological age (r=0.66; p=0.002 for female and r=0.96; p<0.001 for male gymnasts), PHV_Distance (r=0.69; p=0.001 for female and r=0.97; p<0.001 for male gymnasts) and the biological age (r=0.69; p=0.001 for female and r=0.97; p<0.001 for male gymnasts). As the approach run velocity increases, vaulting performance is affected positively. While speed tests significantly correlated with the approach run in male gymnasts, there was no correleation for females. In addition, trainers should keep in mind that the relationship between bio-motor development and biological age of gymnasts is important in training programs.

Keywords: vaulting table, peak high velocity distance, maturity level, kinematic analysis.

Anton Gajdoš
Short Historical Notes XXI

SCGYM 13 2 2021 Gajdos