Components of competition routines in rhythmic gymnastics depending on the type of apparatus

Monitoring and analysis of competition routines in rhythmic gymnastics have so far provided a lot of useful information on the development trends of this sport and current models in elite sport, but also pointed out shortcomings in the development system of this sports discipline, trying to guide its development in the right direction. However, there are still insufficiently researched areas in this field, numerous doubts and incomplete analyses, and this study was organized as a certain contribution to solving these problems. The aim of this paper was to determine whether routines with different types of apparatus differ in the routine components, which describe the competitive performance i.e.,score in rhythmic gymnastics. The analysis included a total of 1044 routines from the two Rhythmic Gymnastics World Championships, including 261 routines with each apparatus (hoop, ball, clubs, ribbon). There were 7 variables examined in relation to the scores achieved by the competitors for individual components of the routine, as well as in regard to the total score. Statistical data analysis was performed using the SPSS 21 program and Microsoft Excel 2015. The Kruskal-Wallis test for independent samples was used to test the differences in scores between the routines with different types of apparatus. The results have shown that differences between the routines with different types of apparatus exist in all components of the routine, except in the component of artistry