Post Critical

Biomechanics

The post critical phase of a backtuck is the rotation in the air. Once in the air the body has little control over the movement. This phase is the body recovering from the force production phase. During this phase the arms stay vertical and the legs move into a tuck position. When the tucked legs reach the arms in the vertical position, the athlete grabs the legs and pulls them close to the chest to increase the speed of rotation. From this point on the athlete stays in this position until opening up to land.

Principle #7 applies to this phase. Once the athlete is in the air, the angular momentum is constant.