Phase-Specific Kinematic Characteristics and Movement Organization in Female Artistic Gymnastics Vault: An Exploratory Video-Based Case Analysis

Background & objective: Vault performance in women’s artistic gymnastics requires the coordinated organization of high-velocity movement across successive phases, from the approach run to the second flight. Previous biomechanical research has frequently examined individual variables in isolation, whereas phase-specific coordination across the complete vault sequence remains less explored using accessible video-based methods. This study aimed to explore phase-specific kinematic characteristics and inter-phase movement organization among selected female artistic gymnasts competing at Olympic/international and national levels. Materials & Methods: An exploratory multiple-case study design was employed using retrospective video-based biomechanical analysis. Five female gymnasts were analyzed, comprising three Olympic/international-level and two national-level athlete-performance cases. Publicly available competition footage was analyzed frame-by-frame using Kinovea motion-analysis software. Eleven kinematic variables were examined across the run-up, first-flight, repulsion, and second-flight phases, including run-up speed, hip and bilateral knee angles, hand-contact duration, bilateral elbow angles, second-flight elevation, flight duration, and bilateral knee angles. Descriptive statistics were calculated using means, standard deviations, minimums, maximums, and between-group mean differences. Intra-rater measurement reliability was assessed using ICC(2,1), 95% confidence intervals, SEM, MDC95, and Bland–Altman agreement analysis. Results: The national-level cases demonstrated higher mean run-up speed (7.95 ± 2.62 vs. 7.47 ± 2.23 m/s) and second-flight elevation (2.95 ± 0.03 vs. 2.57 ± 0.21 m). Olympic/international cases demonstrated greater first-flight knee extension, particularly in the right knee (175.17 ± 1.85 vs. 154.75 ± 1.20°), and slightly longer second-flight duration (0.89 ± 0.10 vs. 0.84 ± 0.09 s). All repeated kinematic measurements demonstrated excellent intra-rater reliability, with ICC values ranging from 0.997 to 1.000. Conclusions: The findings indicate that vault execution cannot be adequately characterized by a single kinematic variable. The international contribution of this study lies in proposing a phase-integrated video-analysis perspective in which approach velocity, body configuration, table interaction, and second-flight organization are interpreted as interconnected components of vault technique. The findings provide preliminary biomechanical evidence for future standardized and three-dimensional investigations of inter-phase movement coordination.