Kinesiological analysis assessment - Coursework Example

In most of the occasions, the athletes perform a counter movement jump. They start from an upright position, make a downward movement by flexing at the knees and hips then extend the knees and hips again to drop vertically on the ground as shown in figure 1a. Such actions make the muscles be pre-stretched before shortening in the desired direction. A male group two member performed squat jumps and countermovement jumps. He played without arm movement on a force platform. The vertical position of the subjects center of mass can now be obtained using free flight equation.

From the observation made during the vertical countermovement jumps, the subject had a maximum take-off range at which the knees get flexed to around ninety degrees. For the squat jump, there was no clear optimum take-off as shown in figure 1. The figure illustrates the kind of motions that occur in countermovement jump and squat jump. In a countermovement, the jumper commences from an upright standing posture, makes downward movement just by flexing at the hips and knees and vigorously extends the knees and hips to jump vertically off the ground.

It is like other movements like running, other types of jumps and throwing where the required motion starts by movement in the opposite direction thus making the muscles be pre-stretched before turning in the required direction. Pre-stretching further enhances the work output and the force production of the muscles in the movement flow (Hanson, 2005). In a squat jump, the movement begins from a stationary semi hunched posture then vigorously extends the hips and knees to climb vertically from the ground as shown in figure (1b).

In this case, no preliminary downward phase is employed, therefore, no pre-stretching of the muscles. This kind of jump was observed to be highly artificial kind of movement that is rare during practice. Most people prefer countermovement form of climbing because it appears natural and a real number can drop