Introduction: During the past few years, numerous biomechanical studies have been conducted on the long jump event, some of them at international competitions. However, there are very few studies analysing and comparing athletes in other age categories during a competition. The purpose of this study is to find out if the determining variables in the long jump event are the same in the different age categories. Methods: The finals of 12 indoor long jump 2013 championships were analysed in cadet (14-15 y/o), youth (16-17), junior (18-19), under 23 (20-22) and absolute categories in Catalonia, as well as the absolute category in Spain. The study sample was made up of 103 athletes (56 men and 57 women), analysing only their best jump in each competition. The space (runway and sandpit) was calibrated and 3 Casio EXF1 cameras were used, recording at 300 fps, another camera recording at 30 fps in HD, 3 Microgate Polifemo Radio photocells placed at a distance of 1, 6 and 11 metres from the take-off board and a Stalker ATS II radar. 54 quantitative variables related to distance, time, speed and angle during the approach run, take-off, flight and landing were extracted from every jump. Results: On the sample as a whole, the linear discriminant analysis shows a significant relation between the official jumping distance (dependant variable) and the speed on the antepenultimate, penultimate and last stride (p<0.01; p<0.000; p<0.001), time of board contact (p<0.036) and the height of the centre of mass on the flight phase (p<0.000). Using this data, a linear regression model is built for the group of athletes: Official jumping distance (m) = -0.761 + 0.158 • Vp3 (m/s) + 0.257 • Vp2 (m/s) + 0.133 • Vp1 (m/s) - 3.866 • Tc0 (s) + 0.036 • h0 (cm). However, when analysing each championship separately, other variables where found showing a relation between the official jumping distance and the age category, thus obtaining different models of linear regression for each age category. Discussion: The variables that better explain the performance in the long jump event during a competition vary depending on the athletes` training level and age category. This could be used as a reference in training programmes for the different age groups. Despite the fact that no championship has got the same determining variables, there is however a common characteristic among all of them: they all have variables related to velocity. Additionally, in every championship, at least one of the variables was related to the take-off. We can thus confirm the importance of reaching a higher speed in the final phase of the approach run as well as the importance of the take-off.
© Copyright 2014 19th Annual Congress of the European College of Sport Science (ECSS), Amsterdam, 2. - 5. July 2014. Veröffentlicht von VU University Amsterdam. Alle Rechte vorbehalten.