| Sumario: | Contextualization: Acrobatic Gymnastics is a spectacular sport where gymnasts perform partner-assisted flights with somersaults and twists in pairs/groups. As far as we know, no studies have investigated a system formed by three gymnasts, possibly due to the complexity of the data collection and analysis. Specifically, the study of segmental energy transfer could provide a deep understanding of the movement organization of two bases working together to throw the top gymnast. Objective: To investigate the segmental energy transfer from the bases to the top gymnast during a partner-assisted flight task: the contribution of each joint and the temporal sequence of the segmental energy transfer. Material and methods: Three women’s groups from Junior Elite and Senior age groups volunteered to participate in this investigation during the “Maia International Acro Cup”, held in Portugal. Gymnasts were from Australia, Brazil, and Finland. The 3 tops were (mean ± standard deviation) 14.3 ± 2.08 years old, 1.50 ± 4.73m of height, and 41.7 ± 5.06kg of body mass, and the 6 bases were 17.8 ± 2.93 years old, with a height of 167.3 ± 5.50m and 63.5 ± 11.04kg of body mass. All subjects or their legal guardians gave voluntary and informed consent to participate under the Declaration of Helsinki and the local research Ethics Committee (CEFADE 02.2022). Since gymnasts were abroad, the legal guardians of underage gymnasts were represented by their coaches. After calibration with a wand, data collection was performed using a set of 8 miqus video cameras (Qualisys AB, Sweden), each placed in one tripod around the spring floor. After the warm-up, each trio performed 5 hand-to-hand somersaults, where the top starts and finishes the somersault in the platform formed by the base's hands, with 2- 3 min of rest between each trial. Data was processed using Theia Markerless software (Theia Markerless Inc., Canada), and exported to Visual3D (C-Motion Inc., USA). The linear kinetic energy of the center of mass (CoM) for bases and tops and the rotational kinetic energy of key joints (shoulder, elbow, hip, knee, and ankle) of the bases were calculated using MATLAB (MathWorks, Natick, MD). Virtual segment corrections were applied for the elbow and knee, and hip angles were computed using the law of cosines. The peak kinetic energy (peak KE) and the instant (0-100%) when they occurred were used for a descriptive analysis. Results: The CoM accounted for a small portion of the total movement. Peak KE showed that the joint contributing the most is the shoulder, followed by the elbow, knee, hip, and ankle. For the peak instants, hip and knee joints achieve their peak KE at 73.3%-76.7% of time, ankle at 79.1%-82%, and shoulder and elbow at 88%-90,6%. The base's CoM reached the peak KE at 79.6%-80.2% and the tops at 82%. Conclusions: Women’s groups employ Hochmuth's biomechanical principle, particularly the temporal coordination of partial impulses, to optimize energy transfers and successfully execute flight elements. Understanding these dynamics contributes to the enhancement of technical execution and training strategies.
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