How Biology Is Involved in Sports

Gymnastics Vault and floor focus on energy conservation and motion in different dimensions. Before a vault or a tumbling pass, I start by running (about 60 feet for vault and 15 for floor) trying to attain maximum speed and acceleration right before I begin the first part of the skill. On vault, I try to be as efficient as possible in my hurdle to the springboard and transfer to the table, which I then push with my arms and shoulders to get one more energy boost before flying off the table. In a front and spring, I continue moving forward the whole way, traveling on the x-axis and flipping on the y-axis. In a Tsukahara, I twist onto the table so that I push off facing the runway, and then bend my knees to increase my rotational velocity and flip backwards one and half times around my y-axis before landing, while traveling on the x-axis the entire time. On floor, my run ends in one of two entry skills that I try to finish at an angle that will give me optimal height and rotation for the next skill. A front layout is similar to a front and spring vault, involving forward motion in the x- and y- dimensions. A back half, while looking very different from a Tsukahara, also involves 3D motion, as I flip around my y-axis, perform a half twist on my z-axis, and continue moving across the floor on the x-axis, all at the same time.

Most skills on bars are possible because of the physics of circular motion. In a giant, I start and end in a handstand on the high bar, swinging in a circle with the bar as my axis of rotation. However, because I am moving mostly in the y-axis, gravity pulls me downward during the whole skill. In order to counter its effects on my upswing, directly underneath the bar I “tap”, letting my feet fall behind me and then aggressively kicking up, giving me the momentum I need to make it around the bar. In my dismount, I perform the same motion as a giant but release the bar on the upswing. The momentum from the swing allows me to gain height and