TWISTING TECHNIQUES USED IN DISMOUNTS FROM THE RINGS

At the 1992 Olympic Games six full twisting double somersault dismount s were recorded with two video cameras during the rings individual app aratus finals in the men's Artistic Gymnastics competition. Angles des cribing body configuration were determined from video data and were in put, together with initial orientation angle values and angular moment um components, into a computer simulation model of aerial movement. Me an absolute deviations between simulation and video after the completi on of one half twist were 0.01 rev for somersault, 2.8-degrees for til t, and 0.08 rev for twist. When the estimate of the initial tilt angle was adjusted by up to 1-degrees these deviations fell to 1.6-degrees for tilt and 0.02 rev for twist. All 6 competitors produced the majori ty of the tilt using aerial techniques that were predominantly asymmet rical movements of the arms. Contributions to the subsequent removal o f tilt were determined using reverse simulations, and again arm moveme nts were the main contributors.