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Biomechanics of the Hammer Throw: Narrative Review

Hammer throw is a discipline characterized by unique biomechanical features, which have often captured the interest of scientists and coaches in athletics. However, most studies have been published on technical journals for coaches and there are only few works on the biomechanical aspects of hammer...

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Autores principales: Castaldi, Gian Mario, Borzuola, Riccardo, Camomilla, Valentina, Bergamini, Elena, Vannozzi, Giuseppe, Macaluso, Andrea
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Frontiers Media S.A. 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9008721/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35434619
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fspor.2022.853536
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author Castaldi, Gian Mario
Borzuola, Riccardo
Camomilla, Valentina
Bergamini, Elena
Vannozzi, Giuseppe
Macaluso, Andrea
author_facet Castaldi, Gian Mario
Borzuola, Riccardo
Camomilla, Valentina
Bergamini, Elena
Vannozzi, Giuseppe
Macaluso, Andrea
author_sort Castaldi, Gian Mario
collection PubMed
description Hammer throw is a discipline characterized by unique biomechanical features, which have often captured the interest of scientists and coaches in athletics. However, most studies have been published on technical journals for coaches and there are only few works on the biomechanical aspects of hammer throw in scientific literature. This narrative review provides a critical evaluation of the articles published in scientific and the most relevant technical journals with a particular focus on the biomechanical aspects that underlie the throwing technique and contribute to performance enhancement. The modern throwing technique has many elements in common with that used by the best throwers in the Eighties, underlying a limited development in the biomechanical understanding of throwing motion in recent years. This review analyses the ballistic and environmental aspects of the discipline as well as the motion of the center of mass of both the hammer and thrower. Furthermore, the orbital movement of the hammer and the forces involved in the throw are evaluated. This review emphasizes the kinematic and dynamic parameters that emerge as the most relevant to improve the throwing performance. Among these, linear release velocity appears to be a fundamental element. To maximize this variable, the athlete is required to accelerate the hammer by applying force. The curve of the time-tangential velocity of the hammer follows a trajectory very similar to that of the forces applied to the hammer-thrower system indicating a strong relationship between the two variables. The thrower uses the action of the leg muscles to gain momentum, which is then transferred to the hammer through the trunk and arm muscles, thus obtaining an increase of the linear release velocity. This review provides coaches with a critical analysis of the hammer throw technique, highlighting relevant factors for future development of training programmes. Our work reveals a substantial gap in the literature, particularly concerning the evaluation of fundamental key aspects of the throw such as the assessment of preliminary winds, the entry to the first turn and the definition of the rotation axes involved in the throw. A more in-depth analysis of these key elements is required to improve the understanding of the biomechanics of hammer throw.
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spelling pubmed-90087212022-04-15 Biomechanics of the Hammer Throw: Narrative Review Castaldi, Gian Mario Borzuola, Riccardo Camomilla, Valentina Bergamini, Elena Vannozzi, Giuseppe Macaluso, Andrea Front Sports Act Living Sports and Active Living Hammer throw is a discipline characterized by unique biomechanical features, which have often captured the interest of scientists and coaches in athletics. However, most studies have been published on technical journals for coaches and there are only few works on the biomechanical aspects of hammer throw in scientific literature. This narrative review provides a critical evaluation of the articles published in scientific and the most relevant technical journals with a particular focus on the biomechanical aspects that underlie the throwing technique and contribute to performance enhancement. The modern throwing technique has many elements in common with that used by the best throwers in the Eighties, underlying a limited development in the biomechanical understanding of throwing motion in recent years. This review analyses the ballistic and environmental aspects of the discipline as well as the motion of the center of mass of both the hammer and thrower. Furthermore, the orbital movement of the hammer and the forces involved in the throw are evaluated. This review emphasizes the kinematic and dynamic parameters that emerge as the most relevant to improve the throwing performance. Among these, linear release velocity appears to be a fundamental element. To maximize this variable, the athlete is required to accelerate the hammer by applying force. The curve of the time-tangential velocity of the hammer follows a trajectory very similar to that of the forces applied to the hammer-thrower system indicating a strong relationship between the two variables. The thrower uses the action of the leg muscles to gain momentum, which is then transferred to the hammer through the trunk and arm muscles, thus obtaining an increase of the linear release velocity. This review provides coaches with a critical analysis of the hammer throw technique, highlighting relevant factors for future development of training programmes. Our work reveals a substantial gap in the literature, particularly concerning the evaluation of fundamental key aspects of the throw such as the assessment of preliminary winds, the entry to the first turn and the definition of the rotation axes involved in the throw. A more in-depth analysis of these key elements is required to improve the understanding of the biomechanics of hammer throw. Frontiers Media S.A. 2022-03-31 /pmc/articles/PMC9008721/ /pubmed/35434619 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fspor.2022.853536 Text en Copyright © 2022 Castaldi, Borzuola, Camomilla, Bergamini, Vannozzi and Macaluso. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
spellingShingle Sports and Active Living
Castaldi, Gian Mario
Borzuola, Riccardo
Camomilla, Valentina
Bergamini, Elena
Vannozzi, Giuseppe
Macaluso, Andrea
Biomechanics of the Hammer Throw: Narrative Review
title Biomechanics of the Hammer Throw: Narrative Review
title_full Biomechanics of the Hammer Throw: Narrative Review
title_fullStr Biomechanics of the Hammer Throw: Narrative Review
title_full_unstemmed Biomechanics of the Hammer Throw: Narrative Review
title_short Biomechanics of the Hammer Throw: Narrative Review
title_sort biomechanics of the hammer throw: narrative review
topic Sports and Active Living
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9008721/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35434619
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fspor.2022.853536
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