Modeling the Individual Movement Structure of Highly Skilled Athletes in Javelin Throwing

Introduction. The article deals with the modeling of the individual movement structure of highly skilled athletes in javelin throwing.

Material and methods: analysis of scientific and methodical literature and Internet information; video recording; video computer analysis; modeling; methods of mathematical statistics. The study involved 24 athletes of different skill levels and analyzed 80 javelin throwing attempts. 

  Results. The javelin throwing technique of athletes of different skill levels was compared. The closest relationships between the studied biomechanical indices were established and the most informative ones were identified.  Regression models were developed, which included the following indices: dependent explanatory variable (Y) – javelin flight distance, independent explanatory variables (xn): javelin departure speed, length of the final javelin acceleration, the trunk-vertical angle at the moment of departure, javelin departure angle, speed of athlete body GCM at the end of the final part of the run-up, speed of athlete body GCM during the previous final part of the run-up, duration of the support phase of the first throwing stride in the final part of the run-up, force gradient during the support phase of the first throwing stride in the final part of the run-up.

Conclusions. Regression models of the kinematic and dynamic structure of the javelin throwing technique allow the prediction of individual variants of the technique, which are focused on achieving the planned result in accordance with the fitness level of a particular athlete.

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Not applicable

The datasets used in this study are openly available at [repository link] and the source code is available on GitHub at [GitHub link].

This work did not receive any external funding.