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Biomechanics

Differences in Head Kinematics Experienced During Skills Performed by Women’s And Men’s Artistic Gymnastics

(D-138) Differences in Head Kinematics Experienced During Skills Performed by Women’s And Men’s Artistic Gymnastics

Friday, October 13, 2023

9:30 AM – 10:30 AM PDT

Location: Exhibit Hall - Row D - Poster # 138

Presenting Author(s)

Giovanny A. Romero (he/him/his)

Graduate Research Associate
Wake Forest School of Medicine
Winston-Salem, North Carolina, United States

Co-Author(s)

NP

Nicholas Pritchard

Graduate Research Associate
Wake Forest School of Medicine, United States
KB

Kambrie Brandt

Student
University of Missouri, United States
GB

Garrett Bullock

Instructor
Wake Forest School of Medicine, United States
AP

Alexandra Peluso

Associate Project Manager
Implementation Science, Wake Forest Univeristy, United States
DK

David Kruse

Associate Faculty
Long Beach Memorial Primary Care Sports Medicine Fellowship, United States
CM

Christopher Miles

Associate Professor
Wake Forest University School of Medicine, United States
JM

Justin Moore

Professor
Wake Forest University School of Medicine, United States
JS

Joel Stitzel

Professor, Biomedical Engineering
Wake Forest University School of Medicine, United States

Primary Investigator(s)

JU

Jillian Urban

Assistant Professor
Wake Forest University School of Medicine, United States

Introduction::

Gymnastics is a popular, multi-disciplinary sport with more than 4.2 million participating athletes in the United States.[1] Gymnastics is a high-risk sport for concussion, yet limited research exists describing the complex loading environment of the head during normal participation in the sport [2][3][4], and few studies have examined disciplines other than women’s artistic gymnastics. Women’s and men’s artistic gymnastics are distinct disciplines with different competitive requirements [5] [6], but share three similar competitive events: floor, vault, and bars (i.e., uneven bars and high bar). Therefore, the purpose of this study was to characterize differences in head kinematics experienced during skill performances within these events across a sample of women’s and men’s artistic gymnasts.

Materials and Methods::

Twelve women's and eight men's artistic gymnasts (ages 11-18) were instrumented with a mouthpiece embedded with a triaxial accelerometer and gyroscope and asked to perform a battery of gymnastics skills. [2] The mouthpiece was set to record continuous data at 100 Hz for 10-minute periods while the gymnast performed each skill twice. Each data recording was time synchronized with motion data in the film. Keyframes associated with the start time (i.e., initiation of skill motion) and end time (i.e., completion of skill motion) of each skill were identified. Skills were selected from eight common skill progression pathways: backward tumbling (balance beam), backward tumbling (floor), bar elements, forward tumbling, release skills, Tsukahara, and Yurchenko. Peak linear acceleration (PLA), peak rotational acceleration (PRA), the resultant change in rotational velocity associated with the PRA (ΔRV), and peak rotational velocity (PRV) were computed. Mixed effects models were used to compare differences in head kinematic metrics between sexes while adjusting for the skill type, the interaction of sex and skill, and random effects of the gymnast. Additionally, a robust error mixed effects model was utilized for comparisons of ΔRV to control for heteroscedastic residuals.

Results, Conclusions, and Discussions::

Results and Discussion: A total of 1106 skills were performed by women’s (n=698, 63%) and men's (n=408, 37 %) gymnasts across 24 similar skills. Figure 1 compares estimated marginal means and 99% confidence intervals of each kinematic metric by sex. Overall, men’s gymnasts tended to experience greater ΔRV (p< 0.001) and PRA (p< 0.001) and similar PLA (p = 0.99) and PRV (p = 0.339) during performances of comparable gymnastics skills. However, women experienced greater PLA during the performance of fly-away (women: n=7, men: n=6, p< 0.001), front handspring- front layout 1/1 (women: n=1, men: n=2, p< 0.001), and round off - back handspring- back layout 1/1 (women: n=3, men: n=5, p< 0.001) compared to men's gymnasts. Skill type was associated with each head kinematic metric (all p< 0.001). There was also a significant interaction effect between skill and sex for PLA (p< 0.001), ΔRV (p< 0.001), and PRV (p< 0.001), but not PRA (p=0.08). The type of skill is an important determinant of head acceleration magnitude and this study found that the relationship between sex and PLA, ΔRV, and PRV differs depending on the skill type. It is crucial to emphasize the significance of PRA and ΔRV, particularly PRA, as kinematic metrics are directly associated with the generation of brain strain. [7] Further research would benefit from identifying factors related to differences in PRA and ΔRV observed in artistic gymnastics.

Conclusions: Understanding differences in head kinematics experienced during gymnastics skills performed by men and women can inform future injury prevention efforts and return-to-play strategies in the sport. Future research is necessary to identify factors, such as gymnasts’ anthropometrics or performance technique, that may explain differences in head kinematics experienced by men’s and women’s gymnasts.

Acknowledgements (Optional): :

The authors would like to acknowledge Grace Waters, Autumn Knight, and Konstantina States for their efforts with data collection, film review, and study coordination. The National Institutes of Health through grant numbers R03 HD104894 and R21 HD108530 supported this study.

References (Optional): :

[1] Outdoor Foundation. 2022 [2] Pritchard et al. Science of Gymnastics journal. 2022. 12 (3)[3] Kruse DW, Nobe AS, Billimek J. Br J Sports Med 2021;55:163–168. [4] Federation Internationale De Gymnastique 2020 fig-concussion guidelines [5] Federation Internationale De Gymnastique 2022 - 2024 Code of Points Women’ s Artistic Gymnastics. [6] Federation Internationale De Gymnastique 2022 - 2024 Code of Points Men’ s Artistic Gymnastics. [7] Songbai et al. Biomechanics and Modeling in Mechanobiology, (2014), 1121-1136, 13(5)