Identification of Kinetic Efficacy Variables for the Rhythmic Gymnastics Pike Jump to Monitor Performance

Background/Objectives: In Rhythmic Gymnastics (RG), the jump is an element of great difficulty that requires the qualities of strength and coordination. Jump height and power are the variables normally used to assess the final performance of jumps. However, they do not allow us to analyze what happens in the intermediate stages or provide practical information to find jump improvement strategies. This study aimed to determine which kinetic variables, organized within a hierarchical model, serve as performance indicators in the Pike Jump executed from a standing start with arm swing. Methods: Ten high-level women gymnasts (14 ± 0.7 years) performed 53 Pike Jumps on a Dinascan-IBV, v.8.1 dynamometric platform (Valencia, Spain) that recorded at 1000 Hz. In the model, jumping was divided into five phases, and 76 related efficacy variables were defined, with 34 of them normalized for total jump time or body weight. Bivariate correlations were analyzed with a bilateral significance test to validate the proposed model. Results: Average and Initial Vertical Ground Reaction Force can be used as performance indicators of the Pike Jump, providing information on intermediate stages of the jump and allowing us to improve specific aspects related to the level of force and the way to apply it in RG. Conclusions: The degree of correlation found among the variables allowed us to validate the model. Normalized variables allow a more precise analysis to be carried out and question some results obtained in the literature in which non-normalized data were presented.