Influences of the Stretch-Shortening Cycle and Arm Swing on Vertical Jump Performance in Children and Adolescents

Zachary M. Gillen, Marni E. Shoemaker, Brianna D. Mckay, Nicholas A. Bohannon, Sydney M. Gibson, Joel T. Cramer

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

10 Scopus citations

Abstract

Gillen, ZM, Shoemaker, ME, McKay, BD, Bohannon, NA, Gibson, SM, and Cramer, JT. Influences of the stretch-shortening cycle and arm swing on vertical jump performance in children and adolescents. J Strength Cond Res 36(5): 1245-1256, 2022 - This study compared the influences of the stretch-shortening cycle and arm swing on vertical jump performance during static jumps (SJs), counter-movement jumps (CMJs), and CMJs with arm swing (CMJAs) in young male and female athletes. Twenty-one boys (age = 12.1 ± 1.1 years) and 21 girls (age = 12.1 ± 1.1 years) performed SJs, CMJs, and CMJAs on force plates that sampled at 1 kHz. Measurements included peak force, rate of force development, peak power (PP), eccentric impulse (ECC), concentric impulse (CON), estimated jump height (JH), and changes in PP and JH across vertical jumps. Measurements of growth included age, maturity offset, height, body mass, fat-free mass, and thigh muscle cross-sectional area. Analyses of variance were used to analyze growth measurements across sex, as well as vertical jump outcome measures. Pearson product moment correlation coefficients were used to determine the relationships between changes in PP and JH across vertical jumps and growth measurements. There were differences in PP and JH such that SJ < CMJ < CMJA (p < 0.001), and ECC such that SJ < CMJA < CMJ (p ≤ 0.048). Changes in PP were greater from the SJ to CMJ than CMJ to CMJA (p ≤ 0.001). The change in PP from the SJ to CMJ exhibited moderate-to-high relationships with growth measurements for boys and girls (r = 0.543-0.803). Because young children may not have the skeletal musculature or strength necessary to absorb and reapply large eccentric preloading forces, future studies should consider using the CMJA, rather than the CMJ, to maximize vertical jump performance and minimize ECC. Coaches and practitioners can expect approximately 27-33% greater PP and 15-17% greater estimated JH when an arm swing is included during the CMJ.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)1245-1256
Number of pages12
JournalJournal of strength and conditioning research
Volume36
Issue number5
DOIs
StatePublished - May 1 2022

Keywords

  • growth
  • jump height
  • power
  • youth

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Orthopedics and Sports Medicine
  • Physical Therapy, Sports Therapy and Rehabilitation

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