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Extremely skilled, predefined movement patterns are embedded in memory and accessed with exceptional confidence, often under incredible levels of pressure, anxiety, and expectation. However, in certain circumstances, some \"triggers\" occur that trigger anxiety and prevent the performance of those almost automated skills. This phenomenon is called differently in various sports, and in gymnastics, it is most often associated with the terms lost movement syndrome (LMS) or mental blocks, twisties or flikikammo. The results determined that all the respondents were suddenly affected by mental blocks, most often several times during their gymnastics career. The nature and duration of mental blocks varied between gymnasts. What they had in common was that they predominantly experienced mental blocks when performing elements backwards. The most common cause of mental blockage was learning new elements too quickly, and the main manifestation of mental blockage was fear and anxiety, as well as avoiding performing the blocked element during training. The treatment methods used by the respondents were different, and the most effective strategy was temporarily distancing themselves from the blocked element and/or the gym. This study provides qualitative insights into the causes, psychological mechanisms, and contextual factors underlying mental blocks, and emphasizes the importance of educational programs aimed at strengthening the competencies of coaches and gymnasts in their recognition and management.

The purpose of this study was to identify pain occurrence among young female athletes in aesthetic sports by defining the proportions of pain status of fourteen body regions. Three groups of young female athletes (artistic gymnasts, rhythmic gymnasts and contemporary dancers) were analysed and compared. The sample consisted of overall 99 competitive athletes. Using the “Self-estimated functional inability because of pain” (SEFIP) questionnaire, athletes were asked to assess their current pain status in 14 body regions on a 5-point scale, with 0 being no pain and 4 being pain so severe that they are unable to practice. According to the Wilk’s test there was a significant multivariate effect (F= 4.60; p<0.001) between artistic gymnasts, rhythmic gymnasts and compulsory dancers in training experience and body status. The most common locations for incidence of pain on the total sample of subjects were in the lower back (44%), knees (35%) and ankles/feet (31%). Artistic gymnasts mostly report pain in the ankles/feet (51.43%), and lower (37.14%) and upper back (34.29%). Rhythmic gymnasts of the same age mostly report pain in lower back area (46.42%), knees (42.86%) shins, ankles and feet (28.57%)¸ while dancers experience pain mostly in lower back (50%), upper back (44%) and knees (38.89%). According to the results of the Chi-square test, artistic gymnasts reported significantly higher pain incidence in ankles/feet region (p<0.01). Early detection of even low intensity pain, accompanied with the adjustment of training load and usage of appropriate safety requirements, can prevent the occurrence of injuries among young athletes.

Relative age effect (RAE) is a worldwide phenomenon described as consequences of age variations between individuals competing in the same cohort. RAE is based on systems that use January 1 as a cut-off date, probably used to attempt to minimize developmental differences between ages and to ensure a more equitable competition. Previously, in artistic gymnastics, a majority of studies on RAE was conducted in gymnasts of national levels. This study analysed RAE both among and between elite female (NF=1268) and male gymnasts (NM=1186) who participated at all Olympic Games held from 1964 to 2016. By using χ2 test, significant difference were found: 1) within frequencies of total sample of male gymnasts born in a certain month (p<0.001); 2) within frequencies of groups of male gymnasts apparatus finalists born in a certain month (p<0.005); 3) within frequencies of groups of male apparatus finalists born in a certain quarter of the year (p<0.005); 4) within frequencies of groups of male apparatus finalists born in a certain half of the year (p<0.005). As far as female gymnasts are concerned, significant differences have not been found within frequencies of any female group born in a certain month, quarter or halves of the year. Regarding differences between genders, no significant differences have been obtained between frequencies of male and female gymnasts born in certain month, quarter and halves of the year. Despite certain differences among and between genders, the general conclusion was that RAE is not present in elite gymnasts of both genders.

The aim of research was to analysis development and age structure of male and female participants at the Olympic Games (OG) and World Championships (WC) from 2003 until 2016. The total number of analyzed WC participants in men's artistic gymnastics (MAG) was 2678 and the women's artistic gymnastics (WAG) was 1981; while at the OG in MAG 391 and in WAG 389. In the last 15 years, there has been identified linear and second-order polynomial-regression increase in the age structure of participants in MAG and WAG in the largest world competitions. In analyzed period of time, MAG and WAG age of gymnasts increased. The male gymnasts from 2003 to 2016 are on average older for 2.3 years and female gymnasts for 3.3 years. In the upcoming period, we do expect (with apparatus specialization) that age will rise. Cilj raziskave je bil ugotoviti spremembo starostne strukture telovadcev in telovadk na olimpijskih igrah in svetovnih prvenstvih od leta 2003 do leta 2016. Skupno število udeležencev v moški tekmovalni orodni telovadbi je bilo 2678 in pri ženskah 1981; medtem ko je bilo na olimpijskih igrah 391 telovadcev in 389 telovadk. V zadnjih 15 letih je bila ugotovljena linearna in polinomska regresija druge stopnje v starostni strukturi udeležencev na največjih svetovnih tekmovanjih. V razčlenjenem obdobju se je povečala starost telovadcev in telovadk. Telovadci so od leta 2003 do leta 2016 v povprečju starejši za 2,3 leta, telovadke pa za 3,3 leta. V prihajajočem obdobju pričakujemo (tudi zaradi dodatnih tekmovanj na posameznih orodjih), da se bo ta starost povečala.

Relatively small number of gymnasts participate at the Olympic Games and even smaller number participates at Olympic Games consecutively, due to numerous different reasons. Therefore, this paper aims are: 1) to determine the number of female gymnasts who participated in the C-I competition at Olympic Games held in 2012 and at Olympic Games held in 2016; 2) to determine characteristics and differences in results of consecutive participants at these two Olympic Games; 3) to determine differences between consecutive participants and other competitors at the afore defined competitions. It was found that 25 female gymnasts participated at two consecutive Olympic Games. From one to another Olympic Games, consecutive participants have numerically increase all scores; significantly increased Execution and Final Scores on the uneven bars; significantly decrease Execution and Final Score on the balance beam. Compared to other gymnasts from the 2012 and 2016 Olympic Games, consecutive participants had numerically higher values in all variables, but only some of them have been determined as significantly different. Consecutive participants confirmed the possibility of continuous quality of skills development in mid 20s. Relativno majhno število telovadk sodeluje na olimpijskih igrah in še manjšo število sodeluje na olimpijskih igrah zaporedoma zaradi številnih različnih razlogov. Zato je namen te raziskave: 1) določiti število telovadk, ki so sodelovali na tekmovanju C-I na olimpijskih igrah v letu 2012 in na olimpijskih igrah, ki so potekale leta 2016; 2) določiti značilnosti in razlike v rezultatih zaporednih udeleženk na teh dveh olimpijskih igrah; 3) določiti razlike med zaporednimi udeleženkami in drugimi tekmovalkami na prej določenih tekmovanjih. Ugotovljeno je bilo, da je le 25 telovadk sodelovalo na dveh zaporednih olimpijskih igrah. Od enih do drugih olimpijskih iger so telovadke številčno povečali vse rezultate; znatno povečala rezultat izvedbe in končnih rezultatov na dvovišinski bradlji; znatno znižale rezultat izvedbo in končni rezultat na gredi. V primerjavi z drugimi telovadkami z olimpijskih iger 2012 in 2016 so zaporedne udeleženke imele številčno višje vrednosti v vseh spremenljivkah, vendar so le nekateri izmed njih opredeljeni kot bistveno drugačni. Zaporedne udeleženke so potrdili možnost neprestanega kakovostnega razvoja spretnosti sredi 20-ih let starosti.

The main goal of a gymnast’s career is participation in the Olympic Games (OG) at least once. Survey results determined a significant difference between genders in the number of gymnasts who competed in only one OG (277 males and 408 females); also, between those who consecutively participated in two OG (104 males and 70 females), three OG (28 males and 11 females), and four OG (six males and zero females). There were no gender differences found in the number of those who consecutively participated in five OG (one male and one female) and six OG (zero males and one female). For both genders, for consecutive participants of three and more OG longevity of high-quality performance, seen through their rank in different finals, was presented showing how it is not endangered with their above average age. The obtained results should be the encouragement for the coaches to plan quality training for more than one Olympic cycle during which the constant increase in the quality of the performance, for both genders, can and should be expected. Glavni cilj telovadčeve poti je sodelovanje na olimpijskih igrah (OG) vsaj enkrat. Rezultati raziskave so pokazali pomembno razliko med spoloma pri številu telovadk, ki so tekmovale le na enih igrah (277 telovadcev in 408 telovadk); tudi med tistimi, ki so se redno udeležili dveh OG (104 telovadci in 70 telovadk), treh OG (28 telovadcev in 11 telovadk) in štirih OG (6 telovadcev in 0 telovadk). V številu tistih, ki so se redno udeležili petih OG (en telovadec in ena telovadka) in šest OG (nič telovadcev in ena telovadka) ni bilo pomembnih razlik med spoloma. Za oba spola je bil za zaporedne udeležence treh in več OG značilna visoko kakovost uspešnosti, ki je bila vidna v mnogih finalnih nastopih, in jih ne omejuje njihova nadpovprečna starost. Dobljeni rezultati bi morali spodbuditi vaditelje, da načrtujejo kakovostno vadbo za več kot eno olimpijsko obdobje, v katerem se lahko in bi morali pričakovati nenehno povečevanje kakovosti uspešnosti za oba spola.

Vault is an apparatus that slightly differs from other in women’s artistic gymnastics in the way of judging, duration of performance, but also in the requirements for certain biomotor abilities of the competitors. Accordingly, the question of number of competitors in the Vault Qualifications arises. Of all the major competitions in the period from 2008 to 2015 only at the competitions that were Individual All-Around Finals and Individual Event Finals (WC2009 and WC2013) a high percentage of Vault Qualifiers (WC2009 = 81.03%; WC2013 = 90.90%) has been identified. At other competitions (OG2008, WC2010, WC2011, QOG2012, OG2012, WC2014, WC2015) only approximately 20% of the elite competitors competed Vault Qualifications. Furthermore, due to identification of the impact of Competitor type (Vault Qualifiers or All-Around competitors), Competition (OG2008, WC2009, WC2010, WC2011, QOG2012, OG2012, WC2013, WC2014, WC2015) and their interaction with vaults Difficulty Scores, Execution Scores and Total Scores between-between 2*9 factorial ANOVA was applied. Finally, it was concluded that biomotor skills and competitors’ selected tactics probably generated the obtained significant differences. The results should be guidelines in planning and programming of training sessions for female elite competitors who aspire towards the Vault Finals. Preskok je disciplina, ki se nekoliko razlikuje od ostalih disciplin ženske orodne telovadbe glede na način ocenjevanja, trajanje tekmovalnega nastopa in gibalnih sposobnostih pomebnih za uspešen nastop. Temu primerno je tudi število telovadk, ki sodelujejo na preskoku v predtekmovanju. Na velikih tekmovanjih v obdobju od 2008 do 2015, kjer je bilo izvedeno finale v mnogoboju in na posameznih orodjih je sodeloval visok odstotek telovadk (SP2009=81,03% in SP2013=90,90%) Na ostalih tekmovanjih (OI 2008, 2012, kvalifikacije za OI 2012, SP 2014, 2015) je sodelovalo le okoli 20% najboljših telovadk v predtekmovanju na preskoku. Na osnovi vseh rezultatov velikih tekmovanj je bila narejena ANOVA in ugotovljeno je bilo, da na odločitev za tekmovanje v predtekmovanje na preskoku vplivajo gibalne sposobnosti telovadk, njihovo znanje in taktika. Rezultati lahko služijo trenerjem pri načrtovanju vadbe na preskoku. 

The subject sample was composed of N=293 gymnasts who competed at the 49th FIG Men's Senior Artistic Gymnastics World Championships (Stuttgart, GER) and N=134 gymnasts who competed at the 1st FIG Men's Junior Artistic Gymnastics World Championships ( Gyor, HUN). This study aimed to determine the differences between the two age groups of gymnasts (juniors and seniors) in all the predictor variables by analyzing the Ddifficulty score, E-execution score and FS-final score from 6 apparatus: Floor Exercise (FX), Pommel Horse (PH), Rings (RI), Vault (VT), Parallel Bars (PB), High Bar ( HB). The E jury score is no different during the competition. Average D and FS scores on the vault are significantly higher than on all other apparatus. The study established significant differences between the samples in almost all the analyzed scores. The results of the independent t-test were significant, indicating there a significant difference between juniors and seniors is 7.4 years of age. We can conclude that juniors and seniors differ significantly in D scores, and the FS final scores without making a big difference in the performance technique of the composition in the E scores: Q = qualification (C-I), AAF = all-around finals (C-II), TF = team finals (C-III) and AF = apparatus finals. Based on what was presented in the work, the importance of the permanent identification of how to reach the maximum potential of how to determine team competition strategy, should we strive for the balanced development of all disciplines, do you intensify one or a combination of discipline groups, which disciplines have the most positive transfer to other disciplines, what disciplines are most contributing to success?

According to the Code of Points (FIG, 2009) the balance beam difficulty value is determined by the sum of maximum 8 most difficult elements (including the dismount), fulfilling 5 composition requirements and by the values that exceed from the connections between the acrobatic elements, turns and acro-rhythmic elements. The aim of this study was to determine the frequency of performed dance elements on the balance beam and their influence on: difficulty value, execution value and final score. The sample consisted of 109 women top junior athletes, who participated in qualifications on the European Championships in Birmingham in 2010. The results obtained showed that the gymnasts in average perform 4.28 dance elements in their balance beam routines. The highest frequency was determined to a C difficulty jump ˝switch leap˝ (N=101), to two A difficulty jumps: “wolf hop or jump from cross or side position” (N=83) and to ˝Sissone˝ (leg separation 180°) take off from both legs (N=61); and to A difficulty turn: “1/1 turn (360°) on one leg – free leg optional below horizontal” (N=66). Regression analysis revealed a statistically significant influence of some dance elements on the difficulty value of the exercise (p <0.05) and on the final score. Statistically significant influence of different dance elements on the execution value was not found. Po Pravilih FIG za ocenjevanje (FIG, 2009) je težavnost sestave določena z vsoto osmih najtežjih prvin v sestavi (vključno s seskokom) ob upoštevanju vseh petih posebnih zahtev ter dodatnih točk za povezanost akrobatskih ter ritmičnih prvin. Cilj članka je ugotoviti pojavnost ritmičnih prvin na gredi in njihov vpliv na težavnost sestave, izvedbo sestave in končno oceno. Vzorec je sestavljalo 109 telovadk, ki so nastopile na mladinskem evropskem prvenstvu leta 2010 v Birminghamu. Telovadke so v povprečju pokazale 4.28 ritmične prvine. Največkrat so telovadke izvedle ritmično prvino skok prednožno zanožno strižno – C težavnostne stopnje (N=101), povezano v dva skoka A težavnostne stopnje in sicer v skok prednožno upognjeno z eno nogo (N=83) in skok prednožno zanožno (kot med nogami več kot 180°) s sonožnim odrivom (N=61); oziroma v obrat na eni nogi (prav tako A težavnostne stopnje) (N=66). Regresijska analiza je bila značilna in rtimične prvine imajo pomemben vpliv na težavnost sestave.in na končno oceno. Težavnost ritmičnih prvin nima vpliva na oceno izvedbe sestave.

The purpose of this study was to identify pain occurrence among young female athletes in aesthetic sports by defining the proportions of pain status of fourteen body regions. Three groups of young female athletes (artistic gymnasts, rhythmic gymnasts and contemporary dancers) were analysed and compared. The sample consisted of overall 99 competitive athletes. Using the “Self-estimated functional inability because of pain” (SEFIP) questionnaire, athletes were asked to assess their current pain status in 14 body regions on a 5-point scale, with 0 being no pain and 4 being pain so severe that they are unable to practice. According to the Wilk’s test there was a significant multivariate effect (F= 4.60; p<0.001) between artistic gymnasts, rhythmic gymnasts and compulsory dancers in training experience and body status. The most common locations for incidence of pain on the total sample of subjects were in the lower back (44%), knees (35%) and ankles/feet (31%). Artistic gymnasts mostly report pain in the ankles/feet (51.43%), and lower (37.14%) and upper back (34.29%). Rhythmic gymnasts of the same age mostly report pain in lower back area (46.42%), knees (42.86%) shins, ankles and feet (28.57%)¸ while dancers experience pain mostly in lower back (50%), upper back (44%) and knees (38.89%). According to the results of the Chi-square test, artistic gymnasts reported significantly higher pain incidence in ankles/feet region (p<0.01). Early detection of even low intensity pain, accompanied with the adjustment of training load and usage of appropriate safety requirements, can prevent the occurrence of injuries among young athletes. Namen raziskave je bil ugotoviti pojavnost bolečine pri mladih športnicah v umetnostnih športih z opredelitvijo deležev bolečinskega stanja štirinajstih predelov telesa. Razčlenili in primerjali smo tri skupine mladih športnic (telovadke, ritmičarke in plesalke sodobnega plesa). Vzorec je sestavljalo skupno 99 športnic. S pomočjo vprašalnika »Samoocenjena delovna nezmožnost zaradi bolečine« (SEFIP) so športnice prosili, naj ocenijo svoje trenutno stanje bolečine v 14 predelih telesa na 5-stopenjski lestvici, pri čemer 0 pomeni, da ni bolečine, 4 pa tako hudo, da ne morejo vaditi. Po Wilkovem testu je bil med telovadkami, ritmičarkami in plesalkami sodobnega plesa pomemben učinek (F= 4,60; p<0,001) glede izkušenj z vadbo in stanja telesa. Najpogostejše pojave bolečine na celotnem vzorcu oseb so bile v spodnjem delu hrbta (44 %), kolenih (35 %) in gležnjih/stopalih (31 %). Orodne telovadke največ poročajo o bolečinah v gležnjih/stopalih (51,43 %) ter spodnjem (37,14 %) in zgornjem delu hrbta (34,29 %). Ritmičarke iste starosti večinoma poročajo o bolečinah v spodnjem delu hrbta (46,42 %), kolenih (42,86 %), golenih, gležnjih in stopalih (28,57 %)¸ medtem ko plesalke čutijo bolečine večinoma v spodnjem delu hrbta (50 %), zgornjem delu hrbta (44). %) in kolenih (38,89 %). Glede na rezultate hi-kvadrat testa so telovadke poročale o značilno večji pojavnosti bolečine v predelu gležnjev/stopal (p<0,01). Zgodnje odkrivanje tudi bolečine nizke jakosti skupaj s prilagoditvijo vadbene obremenitve in uporabo ustreznih varnostnih zahtev lahko prepreči nastanek poškodb pri mladih športnikih.