The Biomechanics of the Human in Flight

Abstract

I used a computer simulation model of aerial move ment to investigate the techniques for producing and controlling rotations of the human body during free flight. I found that the rotational motion can change from a twisting somersault to a nontwisting somersault by flexing at the hips at a suitable time. Twist may be produced in the aerial phase by means of asymmetri cal movements of arms or hips, which result in a tilting of the longitudinal axis away from the plane perpendic ular to the angular momentum vector. Asymmetrical movements may also remove the tilt and stop the twist. Elite performances of twisting somersaults are charac terized by a large contribution from aerial twisting tech niques. A progression of movements is presented for learning a double somersault with one and a half twists in the second somersault.