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ECCENTRIC PEAK TORQUE OF THE KNEE FLEXORS AND 
EXTENSORS RELATES TO BACKWARD SOMERSAULT 
HEIGHT IN FEMALE JUNIOR ARTISTIC GYMNASTS 
 
 
Sebastian Möck
1
, Alina Korrmann
2
, Petra Nissinen
1
and Klaus Wirth
3 
 
1
 Olympic Training and Testing Center of Hessen, Department of Exercise Science, Germany 
2
 Gymastics Federation of Baden, Germany 
3
 University of Applied Sciences Wiener Neustadt, Department of Sport and Exercise 
Sciences, Austria 
 
Original article, DOI:10.52165/sgj.13.2.211-219 
Abstract 
Artistic gymnastics consist of a high amount of jumping actions with rotations around one or 
more axes. To achieve an optimal flight height to perform the desired number of rotations, the 
movement pattern and the floor characteristics have to be concerted optimally. To account for 
the required leg stiffness to utilize the floor’s elasticity, the leg musculature has to generate 
high forces during the ground contact in an eccentric manner. Thus, eccentric strength of the 
knee musculature might play an important role for somersault height and run-up velocity in 
the vault. We investigated the correlation of eccentric peak torque of the knee flexors and 
extensors and vertical jumping height with backward somersault height and sprinting velocity 
in female junior artistic gymnasts. The results showed medium to strong, significant 
correlations between eccentric peak torque and backward somersault height as well as 
sprinting velocity. Vertical jumping height revealed significant correlations with somersault 
height and sprinting velocity. Eccentric strength seems to play an important role in joint 
stiffness regulation to utilize the elastic recoil of gymnastic floors and springboards. In the 
sprint approaching the vault, the same mechanism seems apparent and is in accordance with 
findings regarding the sprint in different sports. 
. 
 
Keywords: artistic gymnastics, velocity, strength.
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
Artistic gymnastics is characterized by 
a high amount of jumping actions with 
rotations around one or more axes of the 
body. During the last decades a great 
increase in difficulty of the performed 
elements can be observed (Brüggemann, 
2005). Potop (2014) points out that 
according to the Code of Points provisions, 
high difficulty and complexity of the 
acrobatic connections in the floor 
apparatus are necessary. Even if the 
amount of forward jumping is largely  
 
 
 
increasing today, these elements are often 
performed using backward take-offs 
preceded by a linear run-up and the 
combination of a round-off followed by a 
flic-flac (Geiblinger, Morrison & 
McLaughlin, 1995; King & Yeadon, 2003) 
and culminate in a variation of the 
backward somersault that enables greater 
flight height and angular momentum than 
can be achieved by performing forward or 
sideward somersaults (Hraski, 2002). King 
& Yeadon (2003) identify the vertical 

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velocity and angular momentum as critical 
factors for successful performance since 
the product of these factors determines the 
amount of rotation that can be achieved. 
Accordingly, the results of Mkaouer, 
Jemni, Amara, Chaabène & Tabka (2013) 
indicate that a greater elevation of the 
centre of mass during the flight phase 
allows for better performance of the 
backward somersault. 
To achieve an optimal flight height to 
account for enough time to perform the 
desired number of rotations, the movement 
pattern and the floor characteristics have to 
be concerted optimally (King & Yeardon, 
2003; Sands et al., 2013). By technical 
evolution, the elastic behaviour of the 
gymnastics spring-floor has been increased 
and optimized through decades which 
requires a modification of the stiffness 
characteristics of the ankle and knee joint 
(Sands et al., 2013). Accordingly, 
Arampatzis, Brüggemann & Morey-
Klapsing (2000) observed a positive 
influence of higher leg stiffness on the 
amount of energy that is stored in the floor 
surface and reutilized during the 
propulsive phase of the jump, while 
Hansen, Hvid, Aagaard & Jensen (2019) 
report correlations of sprint performance 
and rate of force development with 
tumbling performance in TeamGym 
athletes. Nevertheless, it has to be noted 
that TeamGym athletes perform on a 
tumbling track as well as on a regular 
gymnastics floor. To account for the 
desired leg stiffness to utilize the elasticity 
of the floor, the leg musculature has to 
produce correspondent high forces during 
the ground contact in an eccentric manner. 
Comparable mechanisms can be 
observed when regarding the vault 
apparatus in artistic gymnastics. Kalinski, 
Atikovic, Jelaska & Milic (2016) analysed 
the performance in the vault apparatus of 
elite female gymnasts between 2008 and 
2015 and concluded that a development 
towards more and more difficult vaults can 
be observed. In this apparatus as well, a 
high leg stiffness is aimed at to utilize the 
elastic properties of the spring board and to 
divert the horizontal movement velocity of 
the run-up into vertical take-off velocity 
(Hansen et al., 2019). 
Since several studies have shown the 
importance of eccentric activation of the 
hamstrings in sprinting (Sugiura, Saito, 
Sakuraba, Sakuma & Suzuki, 2008; Yu et 
al., 2008) and eccentric training for this 
muscle group produced significant 
improvements in sprinting velocity (Ishøi 
et al., 2018), eccentric hamstring strength 
should be connected to run-up velocity for 
the vault. 
Therefore, we hypothesize that 
eccentric strength of the knee flexors and 
extensors plays an important role for 
backward somersault height and run-up 
velocity in the vault in artistic gymnastics. 
 
METHODS 
 
The aim of this study was to 
investigate whether eccentric peak torque 
of the knee flexors and extensors relate to 
backward somersault height and run-up 
velocity for the vault in junior artistic 
gymnasts. 18 female national level junior 
artistic gymnasts participated in this 
investigation. Eccentric peak torque for 
knee flexors and extensors were measured 
at two movement velocities. Backward 
somersault height and sprint velocity 
between 18 and 20 meters were determined 
on a gymnastics running surface during 
vault training and on an indoor track, 
respectively. Additionally, jump-and-reach 
performance was assessed. All participants 
completed a familiarization session to each 
of the testing procedures one week before 
the actual tests were conducted. 
18 female national level junior artistic 
gymnasts participated in this investigation. 
The mean age was 12.70 ± 2.00 years, their 
height was 1.483 ± 0.0958 m and weight 
41.50 ± 9.68 kg. All subjects and their 
parents or legal guardians were informed 
of the experimental risks involved with the 
research and provided informed written 
consent. The research design was approved 

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by the institutional review board. The 
study was carried out with respect to the 
use of human subjects and according to the 
Declaration of Helsinki. 
The participants performed the 
combination round off – flick-flac – 
backward somersault on a gymnastics 
competition spring floor (Spieth 
Gymnastics GmbH, Altbach, Germany). 
The landing was performed on an elevation 
of 1 m consisting of mats to provoke 
maximum height in the somersault. This 
was done because it is a common training 
method for somersaults executed with a 
focus on height. The execution of this test 
is displayed in figure 1. 
The height was measured as 
maximum difference of the greater 
trochanter to the floor. For this purpose, a 
reflective marker with a diameter of 0.5cm 
was placed on the right greater trochanter 
and was tracked in the sagittal plane with 
100Hz using a Sony FDR-AX700 camera 
(Sony Corporation, Tokio, Japan). 
The videos were analysed using the 
software SIMI MOTION (Simi Reality 
Motion Systems GmbH, Unterschleißheim, 
Germany). 
Eccentric leg strength was determined 
using the ISOMED2000 isokinetic device 
(D&R Ferstl GmbH, Hemau, Germany) 
with a measuring rate of 200Hz. Peak 
torque measurements were performed in a 
prone position for the knee flexors and a 
supine position for knee extensors with 
30°/s and 150°/s according to the protocol 
of Alt, Knicker & Strüder (2020). After 
individual warm-up the participants 
performed 5 maximal eccentric 
contractions per velocity and muscle 
group. The return into starting position 
always occurred passively at 120◦/s. Both 
absolute peak torque and peak torque 
relative to bodyweight were analysed. 
Alt, Knicker & Strüder (2014) report a 
test-retest-reliability of ICC = 0.829-0.886 
for these eccentric test modes with the 
used device. 
The sprint test was performed - after 
an individual warm up - over a distance of 
30 meters on an indoor track. 5 attempts 
were measured with a rest period of 5 
minutes between attempts. Velocity in the 
segment between 18 and 20 meters (zero 
referring to the starting point) was detected 
with 100Hz using a LAVEG laser diode 
system (model LEM-300W) by 
JENOPTIK Technologie GmbH (Jena, 
Germany). This segment was chosen 
because the official competition rules 
allow a maximum length of 25 meters for 
the run-up in the vault and a 2 meter-
segment from 7 to 5 meters in front of the 
table is generally used to measure the 
running velocity of handspring vaults 
(Naundorf, Brehmer, Knoll, Bronst & 
Wagner, 2008). 
The start was executed in an upright 
standing position. No command was given 
and every tested individual started the test 
at an individually chosen point of time. A 
test-retest reliability of r = 0.99 (p < 0.05) 
is indicated for this test (Türk-Noack & 
Schmalz, 1994). 
The detection of the jump-and-reach 
height was carried out using a wooden wall 
and magnesia on the participants’ right 
hand to mark the achieved height. The 
difference to the previous marked reaching 
height in a standing position was then 
measured using measuring tape. 
Participants were shown how to 
perform a maximal vertical 
countermovement jump. They were 
instructed to jump straight up and touch 
the highest point on the wall they could 
reach with the tips of the fingers of their 
right hand. Participants were allowed to 
practice until they felt comfortable with the 
equipment and technique. Each participant 
carried out 5 trials with an inter-jump rest 
period of at least 30 seconds. The wall was 
wiped clean from the magnesia marks of 
the previous jump before each trial. 
The data was analysed using SPSS 
11.5 (SPSS, Inc., Chicago, IL, USA). 
Kolmogorov-Smirnov test was used to 
check for normal distribution. As this test 
revealed no significant results, Pearson’s 
product-moment correlation was used to 

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determine the strength of the relationships. 
The level of significance for all tests was 
set a priori to p ≤ 0.05. 
According to Keiner, Sander, Wirth, 
Hartmann & Yaghobi (2014), the 
correlation coefficient was classified as 
follows: 0 = no correlation, 0 < | r | < 0.2 = 
very weak correlation, 0.2 < | r | < 0.4 = 
weak correlation, 0.4 < | r | < 0.6 = medium 
correlation, 0.6 < | r | < 0.8 = strong 
correlation, 0.8 < | r | < 1.0 = very strong 
correlation, | r | = 1 = perfect correlation. 
RESULTS 
 
The descriptive data are displayed in 
table 1. The backward somersault test 
showed a mean height of 1.35 ± 0.16 m. 
The mean run-up velocity for the vault was 
7.66 ± 0.35 m/s. The eccentric strength 
tests show greater peak torque values for 
150 °/s compared to 30 °/s. 
 
 
 
 
Figure 1. Execution of the somersault test.  
 
Table 1 
Descriptive data of the performed Tests. 
 
  Mean Max Min SD 
BSH [m] 1.35 1.70 1.09 0.16 
v 18-20 [m/s] 7.04 7.66 6.56 0.35 
J&R [cm] 47.11 59.00 35.00 5.50 
Quad 30 [Nm] 107.33 211.19 62.11 38.82 
Quad 150 [Nm] 108.83 194.50 74.41 31.19 
Ham 30 [Nm] 42.14 86.11 22.23 18.09 
Ham 150 [Nm] 44.33 79.11 28.90 13.72 
Quad 30 R [Nm/kg] 2.58 3.94 1.69 0.63 
Quad 150 R [Nm/kg] 2.66 4.28 1.81 0.64 
Ham 30 R [Nm/kg] 0.98 1.46 0.59 0.21 
Ham 150 R [Nm/kg] 1.06 1.41 0.91 0.14 
BSH = Backward Somersault Height; v 18-20 = sprint velocity between 18 and 20 meters; J&R = 
Jump-and-reach height; Quad = Quadriceps; Ham = Hamstrings; R = relative to bodyweight 

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Table 2 
Correlation coefficients of the absolute peak torque values and jump-and-reach height with 
backward somersault height and sprint velocity between 18 and 20 meters. 
 
 
J&R Quad 30 Quad 150 Ham 30 Ham 150 
BSH 0.696** 0.709** 0.696** 0.840** 0.814** 
v 18-20 0.594** 0.345 0.448* 0.474* 0.511* 
* = p < 0.05; ** = p < 0.01 
 
Table 3 
Correlation coefficients of the relative peak torque values with backward somersault height 
and sprint velocity between 18 and 20 meters. 
 
 
Quad 30 R Quad 150 R Ham 30 R Ham 150 R 
BSH 0.241 0.021 0.748** 0.437* 
v 18-20 0.027 0.000 0.342 0.258 
* = p < 0.05; ** = p < 0.01 
 
 
The calculation of the correlation 
coefficients of the backward somersault 
height with the Jump-and-reach height and 
the absolute eccentric strength parameters 
revealed significant, medium to strong 
correlations (p < 0.01) (Table 2). 
Interestingly the greatest correlations were 
observed for the eccentric peak torque of 
the knee flexors. 
The correlations regarding the sprint 
velocity with the eccentric strength tests 
and jump-and-reach height revealed 
medium significant correlations (p < 0.05) 
for the eccentric peak torque of the 
hamstrings and the eccentric peak torque 
of the quadriceps while eccentric peak 
torque at 30°/s did not relate significantly 
to the sprint velocity. The greatest 
significant coefficient (p < 0.01) could be 
observed for the achieved height in the 
jump-and-reach test. 
Interestingly, when calculating the 
peak torque values relative to bodyweight, 
no significant correlations for the sprint 
velocity were found. When using relative 
peak torque, only the knee flexors’ 
strength showed significant correlations 
with backward somersault height (Table 
3). 
 
DISCUSSION 
 
The study revealed medium 
significant correlations of eccentric peak 
torque of the knee extensors at 150°/s and 
the knee flexors at 30°/s and 150°/s as well 
as jump-and-reach height with the run-up 
velocity in the gymnastics vault. This is in 
accordance with previous findings that 
eccentric hamstring strength is particularly 
important for sprint performance. This is 
due to the observation that the greatest 
hamstring length is apparent right before 
ground contact of the foot while the 
muscles are also activated (Schache, Dorn, 
Blanch, Brown & Pandy, 2012; Thelen, 
Chumanov, Best, Swanson & Heiderscheit, 
2005). In this position the hamstrings have 
to provide for a high amount of energy 
absorption (Chumanov, Heiderscheit & 
Thelen, 2007; Schache et al., 2012; Thelen 
et al., 2005) that is linked to the achieved 
running velocity (Chumanov et al., 2007). 
Additionally, low eccentric hamstring 
strength was identified as a risk factor for 
hamstring injuries while sprinting (Hicks, 
2017; Jonhagen, Nemeth & Eriksson, 
1994). Since propulsion in the maximum 
velocity phase of sprinting is believed to 
be realized primarily via hip extension 

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with great back-swing velocity (Bezodis, 
Kerwin & Salo, 2008; Hunter, Marshall & 
McNair, 2005; Seagrave, 1996; Wiemann 
& Tidow, 1995), the main contribution of 
knee and ankle joints is the amortization of 
the ground reaction forces’ vertical 
component to counteract a lowering of the 
body’s centre of mass (Hunter, Marshall & 
McNair, 2004; Hunter et al., 2005; 
Simonsen, Thomsen & Klausen, 1985; 
Wiemann & Tidow, 1995). Thus, the 
stiffness of the knee joint seems to be of 
high importance in this phase (Bret, 
Rahmani, Dufour, Messonnier & Lacour, 
2002; Chelly & Denis, 2001). To provide 
for the necessary amount of knee joint 
stiffness, the influence of eccentric 
strength of the knee extensors seems 
apparent. Since antagonistic co-contraction 
increases joint stiffness as well as short-
latency stretch reflexes (Nielsen, Sinkjær, 
Toft & Kagamihara, 1994), a contribution 
of hamstring maximum strength to knee 
joint stiffness in sprint running is 
conceivable as well. Of course, it needs to 
be considered that the executed strength 
tests did not include the hip flexors and 
extensors that are of crucial importance for 
sprint performance (Bezodis et al., 2008; 
Hunter et al., 2005; Seagrave, 1996; 
Wiemann & Tidow, 1995). 
Regarding the backward somersault 
height, significant medium to high 
correlations with jump-and-reach height as 
well as eccentric peak torque of the knee 
extensors and flexors at both angular 
velocities could be observed. The former 
reflects the results of Mkaouer, Jemni, 
Amara, Chaabène & Tabka (2012) that a 
backward somersault and a 
countermovement jump with arm swing 
seem to be similar kinematically and 
kinetically in their vertical components. 
The latter appears to be in accordance with 
the findings of Kashuba, Khmelnitska & 
Krupenya (2012) who report knee angles 
between 163.9° and 175.3° for the ground 
contact after the combination round off – 
flick-flac in approach to the vault table. In 
this case again, eccentric strength of both 
knee extensors and knee flexors seems to 
impact joint stiffness via co-contraction to 
utilise the short-latency stretch reflexes via 
a stretch-shortening-cycle (Nielsen et al., 
1994) and to benefit from the energy 
stored in the elastic floor surface during 
the propulsive phase of the jump 
(Arampatzis et al., 2000). 
It is noteworthy, that although 
eccentric muscle actions of the studies 
muscles are a fundamental part of daily 
activities, maximal eccentric strength 
testing must be regarded as rather unusual 
and therefore shows greater familiarization 
effects than concentric testing (Dirnberger, 
Huber, Hoop, Kösters & Müller, 2013). 
This observation is explained by different 
neuronal patterns specific to the type of 
contraction (Wirth, Keiner, Szilvas, 
Hartmann & Sander, 2015) which might 
possibly lead to initial inhibition in 
unfamiliar subjects (Dirnberger et al., 
2013). Therefore, it is important to 
mention that the participants of this study 
were familiar with maximal eccentric 
contractions of the studies muscle group 
since they have participated in eccentric 
strength training as part of their athletic 
preparation prior to the conducted study. 
 
CONCLUSIONS 
 
Eccentric strength of the knee flexors 
and extensors appears to be an important 
requirement for female artistic gymnasts in 
vault and floor apparatus. 
 
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Corresponding author: 
 
Sebastian Möck 
Olympic Training and Testing Center of 
Hessen, Department of Exercise Science 
Otto-Fleck-Schneise 4, 60528 Frankfurt 
am Main, Germany 
E-mail: smoeck@lsbh.de  
Phone: +49 69 / 6789239 
 
 
Article received: 20.10.2020 
Article accepted: 9.1.2021 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Möck S., Korrmann P., Nissinen P., Wirth K.: ECCENTRIC PEAK TORQUE OF THE KNEE …  Vol. 13 Issue 2: 211 - 219 
 
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