Six gold medals and three silver medals - that is the balance of the German athletes at the Nordic ski World Championships held in Seefeld at the beginning of March. The Associate Professorship of Biomechanics in sports of the Technical University of Munich (TUM) has played a role in this success. The team of Prof. Dr. Ansgar Schwirtz carries out different research projects for the German Ski Federation (DSV). Prof. Schwirtz, who is also president of the German Society of Sport Science (dvs), is also head of the scientific commission of ski jumpers as well as of the Nordic combined athletes of the DSV.
"The scientific support has a central significance for us. For ski jumpers, many fields of training have been exploited in full. In order to obtain further improvements, such aspects as biomechanical analysis or material technology are continuously receiving ever more importance. With Prof. Schwirtz here as an expert, we are very happy to have such a large network and great deal of knowledge to help support us," says Horst Hüttel, the director of sport for the Nordic athletes of the DSV.
"As sport scientists, we always want to support our athletes in the best possible way. Through our expert assessment, as one of the several components required for such success, I am happy to see that we are able to contribute toward this success in achieving maximum performances," explains Schwirtz.
Ski jumping: "The Formula 1 of the winter"
Ski jumping is occasionally known as the "formula 1 of the winter". This kind of sport involves large challenges both for the technology of the athlete as well as for the material. In order to optimize both, the scientific commission for the sports of ski jumping and Nordic combination meet three to four times per year. Involved here are also the coaches of the national team as well as representatives from the Institute for Applied Training Science (IAT), the Institute for Research and Development of Sport Devices (FES), from Berlin, as well as the TUM.
Can the helmet be improved? Does the binding system have to be developed further? Are the Germans slower in their approaches than the international competitors? The scientists identify which problems exist and how and what solutions can be compiled. "At these meetings, it is discussed which needs exist for scientific research and what and how these can be implemented. In addition, we make use of our expert assessment in order to interpret the data and to estimate the measuring accuracy," explains Schwirtz.
Concrete recommendations for athletes
The Associate Professorship of Biomechanics in Sport, in cooperation with the Institute of Flight System Dynamics of the TUM, last investigated which angle of incidence of the ski guarantees the greatest possible distance. For this purpose, the skis were prepared with inertial sensors (IMU). "For us, these analyses offer a possibility for dealing very individually with the jumpers and for working with them. For example, for Markus Eisenbichler we could identify and change two or three things which helped him quite a bit," Hüttel concludes. This athlete from Siegsdorf was able to win the gold medal at the world championship in Seefeld from the large hill as well as gold with both the men's and the mixed team. "The research has surely played a large role in this success," says Hüttel.
Currently, the scientists are focusing on the landing. "The tendency in ski jumping is that the sport is made more spectacular when the jumps continue to go ever further. This means, in the first place, not only that the material must endure extreme requirements, but also, all the more so, for the athletes. Unfortunately, there were numerous injuries suffered here," explains Schwirtz. For this reason, his team is now analyzing how these liabilities can be reduced and which techniques are the most gentle for the athletes. After all, in order to achieve a top performance, top athletes must foremost also be healthy when competing in World Championships.
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Contact
Prof. Dr. Ansgar Schwirtz
Associate Professorship of Biomechanics in Sport
Georg-Brauchle-Ring 60/62
80992 Munich
Tel.: 089 289 24581
E-Mail: Biomechanik.sp(at)tum.de
Text: Dr. Fabian Kautz
Fotos: Department of Biomechanics in Sport