(53) CORRELATION BETWEEN SINGLE-LEG COUNTERMOVEMENT JUMPS, SPRINTS, AND CHANGE-OF-DIRECTION IN COLLEGIATE BASKETBALL PLAYERS

Explosiveness and speed are critical to performance among athletes in general, because of lower-limb power. Common field tests, such as a countermovement jump (CMJ), single leg countermovement jump (SL-CMJ), Isometric Mid-Thigh Pull (IMTP), 20-yard sprint (20 YD), and change of direction T-Test (TT) could be used to correlate the performance of the athlete.

Purpose: To evaluate correlations between field tests incollegiate basketball athletes. Secondly, it was investigated if lower-limb power asymmetries influence an athlete’s physical performance.

Methods: NCAA Division III men’s and women’s basketball players (n = 35) performed three maximum effort attempts on each the SL-CMJ, CMJ, and IMTP on a force plate (Hawkins Dynamics, Westbrook, ME). Six specific metrics were collected between the jumping and pull tests. In addition, two maximal 20YD and two TT were performed, where incremental time splits and completion times were recorded using a laser timing system (VALD Performance, Queensland, Australia). Pearson product moment correlations were used to examine relationships between metrics. Linear regressions were then used to follow-up on those correlations, examining the predictive measurements between all the metrics.

Results: Analyses displayed strong predictive relationships between several of the field tests (p < 0.001). The relationships with the highest r² values included JH with TT (0.77) and 20YD with TT (0.60). Secondly, no significant relationships were calculated when examining the magnitudes of lower body asymmetries and field test performances (p > 0.05).

Conclusion:  Performance testing in this study resulted in some correlations and predictive qualities to physical performance characterized by the SL-CMJ, CMJ, IMTP, 20YD, and T-Test. Although these performance tests can be used to quantify levels of strength and speed, it is not definitive that these qualities create a complete basketball player. Other factors such as shooting, defense, and basketball IQ should be considered. PRACTICAL APPLICATION: evaluate the possible asymmetries and look at its correlation to injury prevention, as well as continued profiling similar to the methods of this study with a larger pool of athletes such as i.e. youth sport, high school, all NCAA levels, and professional.


Acknowledgements: None