Landing
Viscoelastic materials are used extensively in sports surfaces which are designed to allow elastic deformation that can enhance performance and reduce loading. A variety of surfaces have been developed which are commonly assigned to one of two groups: point-elastic surfaces that distribute forces over a small area, and area-elastic surfaces that react to a local force by deforming over a relatively large area. The surface-athlete interaction has been identified as a possible factor that may affect the risk of injury, since internal structures may become damaged when loading is too large. Landing mats are bulky, have a number of component layers, transmit forces relatively slowly and undergo large area-viscoelastic deformations. This introduces a number of potential problems related to the mat's construction, the dynamics of the mat whilst undergoing impact and the mat / force plate interaction. A significant amount of mat mass may be accelerated during impact and it will take a finite time for the force at the surface of the mat to be detected beneath the mat via a force plate. If detailed analysis of the gymnast-mat interaction during landing is to be investigated, the mechanical response of the area-elastic mat in such loading regimes needs to be determined accurately.
Publications
- Hiley, M.J. and Yeadon, M.R. 2011. Loads on a gymnastics safety support system during maximal use. Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers Part P: Journal of Sports Engineering and Technology 225, 1-7.
- Mills, C., Yeadon, M.R. and Pain, M.T.G. 2010. Modifying landing mat material properties may decrease peak contact forces but increase forefoot forces in gymnastics landings. Sports Biomechanics 9, 153-164.
- Yeadon, M.R., King, M.A., Forrester, S.E., Caldwell, G.E. and Pain, M.T.G. 2010. The need for muscle co-contraction prior to a landing. Journal of Biomechanics 43, 364-369.
- Mills, C., Pain, M.T.G., and Yeadon, M.R. 2009. Reducing ground reaction forces in gymnastics' landings may increase internal loading. Journal of Biomechanics 42, 671-678.
- Mills, C., Pain, M.T.G. and Yeadon, M.R., 2008. The influence of simulation model complexity on the estimation of internal loading in gymnastics landings. Journal of Biomechanics, 41 (3), 620-628.
- Mills, C., Pain, M.T.G., and Yeadon, M.R. 2006. Modelling a viscoelastic gymnastic landing mat during impact. Journal of Applied Biomechanics, 22 (2), 103-111.
- Pain, M.T.G., Mills, C. and Yeadon, M.R. 2005. Video analysis of the deformation and effective mass of gymnastics landing mats. Medicine and Science in Sport and Exercise 37, 1754-1760.
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