New Studies in Athletics · no. 3.2012 31 Introduction urrently, most top high jumpers use one of the versions of the Fosbury Flop technique 1 . The technique, which comprises the approach, the preparation for the take-off, the take-off, the flight phase and bar clearance and the landing 2 , is differenti- ated from the other jumping styles mainly by the so called “J” approach and back lay-out position used to cross the bar. The single most important factor and es- sential contributor to the height cleared, is the height of the flight of the body’s centre of mass (BCM), which is a result of the vertical impulse produced during the take-off phase 3,4 . VIEWPOINT AUTHORS Vassilios Panoutsakopoulos is a PhD Can- didate in Biomechanics. He teaches Track and Field in the Department of Physical Education & Sports Science, Aristotle Uni- versity of Thessaloniki, Greece. Prof. Dr. Iraklis A. Kollias is the Director of the Biomechanics Laboratory of the De- partment of Physical Education & Sports Science, Aristotle University of Thessalon- iki, Greece. His major fields of research are the 3D analysis of sports technique and the development of specific instrumentation for sport analysis. 3D Biomechanical Analysis of Women’s High Jump Technique by Vassilios Panoutsakopoulos and Iraklis A. Kollias STUDY © by IAAF 27:3; 31-44, 2012 ABSTRACT The purpose of the present study was to in- vestigate the three-dimensional kinemat- ics of contemporary high jump technique during competition and to compare the re- sults with findings from previous elite-level events. The participants in the women’s high jump event of the European Athlet- ics Premium Meeting “Thessaloniki 2009” served as subjects. The jumps were re- corded using three stationary digital video cameras, operating at a sampling frequen- cy of 50fields/sec. The kinematic param- eters of the last two strides, the take-off and the bar clearance were extracted for analysis through software. The results in- dicated that the kinematic parameters of the approach (i.e. horizontal velocity, stride length, stride angle, height of body centre of mass) were similar to those reported in the past. However, a poor transformation of horizontal approach velocity to vertical take-off velocity was observed as a greater deceleration of the swinging limbs could be seen at the instant of take-off. Consider- able backward lean at take-off, large take- off angle and inefficient bar clearance were also noted. The authors recommend that the athletes studied consider giving a greater emphasis to the key technique ele- ments of the take-off phase and of the bar clearance. C