The use of educational exercises in developing the most important biomechanical variables of the backward roll skill on the floor exercise mat for second-year students at the College of Physical Education and Sports Sciences, University of Diyala.

Abstract

The backward roll skill on the floor exercise mat is one of the fundamental and methodological skills for students of Physical Education and Sports Sciences, as it serves as a preparatory movement for other linking movements. Through the researcher’s experience in teaching gymnastics, a problem was observed in the students' weak ability to learn and perform the backward handspring skill. This difficulty arises because the skill requires the body's center of gravity to be relatively far from the ground, reaching a handstand position at one stage. Additionally, it demands precise coordination in pushing the hands against the ground while the center of gravity passes through an imaginary vertical line.

This prompted the researcher to study this skill and enhance its performance by designing educational exercises aimed at correcting errors that occur due to improper application of biomechanical variables and monitoring the progress of skill acquisition.

The study aimed to develop educational exercises to regulate key biomechanical variables of the backward roll skill on the floor exercise mat. The researcher used the experimental method as it suited the nature of the research problem. The research population consisted of second-year students from the College of Physical Education and Sports Sciences at the University of Diyala, totaling 260 students divided into five sections. Two sections (C and D) were randomly selected to represent the experimental and control groups. Students who did not adhere to the training schedule were excluded, as well as eight students who participated in a preliminary exploratory experiment (four from each group). This resulted in a final research sample of 80 students, with 40 students in section C forming the experimental group and 40 students in section D forming the control group, selected through a random sampling method.