OPTIMAL STANDING LONG JUMP SIMULATION FROM DIFFERENT STARTING POSTURES
A planar 4-segment human body model is used to simulate and study the effects of starting posture on standing long jumping performance. The model consists of frictionless hinge joints and is driven by joint torque actuators. The four segments represent feet, shanks, thighs, and trunk with head and arms. Movement simulations start from three different postures: high squat, squat, and low squat. The control variables are the joint torque activation levels and takeoff time. The objective function is the maximum horizontal distance from the toe point at takeoff to the center of mass (c.m.) position at landing. Optimal simulation results agree reasonably well with measurements. Different from previous high jump simulation study, slight dependence of initial posture on jump distance is found. Longer jump distance from a higher initial posture is probably due to greater range of countermovement that results in larger extension joint torque generation.