The Relationship Between Motor Representation and Biomechanical Parameters in Complex Movements: Towards an Integrative Perspective of Movement Science

In this paper, I aimed at starting a systematical search for paths regarding biomechanical aspects and functional units of movement organization. Therefore, I developed methodical approaches to measure kinematic parameters and the structure of motor representations. A new experimental method was developed to measure the structure of these representations in long term memory. Concerning the analysis of kinematics, I developed a system for computerbased three-dimensional analysis of complex movements. Altogether, I investigated 5 groups with 6 subjects in each group (n = 30) with an increasing ability to perform a special kind of rotational movements in gymnastics: the twisting somersault. The maximum performance in these groups was /2, 1, 1/2, 2, and 21/2 twisting somersaults. The results of the experimental analysis show that representational frameworks were organized in a hierarchical tree-like structure and matched the biomechanical demands of the task well. After measuring kinematic parameters, we investigated the relationship between structure of motor representation and the kinematic parameters of the twisting somersault movement. I found significant correlations (p < .00) between kinematic parameters of the movement and the accessory parts of motor representations. These results support the hypothesis that voluntary movements are planned, executed, and stored in memory directly by way of representation of their anticipated perceptual effects.