Abstract

Ski jumping is very specific and unique. One important aspect is that ski jumping is almost exclusively performed as a competitive sport. It needs spacious and expensive facilities (including jumping hill, chair-lift, judges’ tower etc.) as well as very high and specific organizational demands. Depending on the hill size the performance time only lasts between 6 and 12 seconds. The competition consists of two runs only. In a common session of hill training around six trials are performed leading to a ratio between ‘performance time’ and ‘rest time’ of about 1:120. These circumstances make high quality training regimes, including dry-land training in terms of conditioning and specific coordination training, necessary. Additionally, research on biomechanics, motor control and training theory can provide a substantial support for accordingly improving the quality of training and the performance in ski jumping. A substantial number of studies regarding biomechanical issues of ski-jumping have already been published. The papers primarily deal with aspects related to performance enhancement, limiting factors of the take-off, specific hill and dry-land training and conditioning, aerodynamics and safety. The methodologies used in the corresponding experimentally oriented papers are kinematics, ground reaction force (GRF} analyses, electromyography, wind tunnel measurements and computer simulation. The research covers both competition and training in hill jumps and dry-land training in imitated take-offs. Aus dem Text