Question about inertia and gymnastics

[CannonSonic]

Now, before I ask, I know about moment of inertia, or rotational inertia, and I know you may bring that up to answer my question instead just regular inertia. I do not want this question to be answered with the mentioning of moment of inertia. I just want regular, linear inertia to be part of the answer instead.

 

So for the question, how does inertia, the resistance to acceleration (or change in velocity) affect how spectacular, amazing or cool the routine or trick is when a gymnast is performing those stunts? How does inertia affect the overall routine and performance a gymnast does in the air, or tumbling or something else?

[J.C.MacSwell]

Now, before I ask, I know about moment of inertia, or rotational inertia, and I know you may bring that up to answer my question instead just regular inertia. I do not want this question to be answered with the mentioning of moment of inertia. I just want regular, linear inertia to be part of the answer instead.

 

So for the question, how does inertia, the resistance to acceleration (or change in velocity) affect how spectacular, amazing or cool the routine or trick is when a gymnast is performing those stunts? How does inertia affect the overall routine and performance a gymnast does in the air, or tumbling or something else?

 

It makes it much more spectacular, amazing and cool, because without it, we all could do it, and more, in no time at all.

[Mokele]

How it affects a movement depends on the movement itself. A gymnast can tuck their limbs in to increase the speed of a rotation, or extend them to reduce speed.

[swansont]

Now, before I ask, I know about moment of inertia, or rotational inertia, and I know you may bring that up to answer my question instead just regular inertia. I do not want this question to be answered with the mentioning of moment of inertia. I just want regular, linear inertia to be part of the answer instead.

 

So for the question, how does inertia, the resistance to acceleration (or change in velocity) affect how spectacular, amazing or cool the routine or trick is when a gymnast is performing those stunts? How does inertia affect the overall routine and performance a gymnast does in the air, or tumbling or something else?

 

That sense of inertia is related to mass. Gymnasts tend to be small and have a small mass, meaning that for a given force, they will have a larger acceleration. You see this in basketball as well. Some sub 6' players can jump really high, reaching to where the 7-footers can get. But they start from a lower point, so they stay in the air longer — that makes for more spectacular gymnastics.

 

The bigger athletes are stronger, but not stronger for all the extra mass. Bigger athletes that use both upper- and lower-body increase the mass of both sets of muscles, but when only using one part, the rest is dead weight And there's other dead weight as well. It's a scaling issue; generally mass goes up faster than strength, because mass depends on volume while strength depends on cross-sectional area.