Long-Term Changes in Jump Performance and Maximum Strength in a Cohort of National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I Women's Volleyball Athletes

Abstract

Kavanaugh, AA, Mizuguchi, S, Sands, WA, Ramsey, MW, and Stone, MH. Long-term changes in jump performance and maximum strength in a cohort of NCAA division I women's volleyball Athletes. J Strength Cond Res 32(1): 66-75, 2018-The purpose of this investigation was to quantify the magnitude of change in maximal strength and jumping abilities over approximately 1, 2, and 3 years of supervised sport and resistance training in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) division I women's volleyball athletes. This was an exploratory study on a cohort of women's volleyball athletes (n = 29) split into 3 groups based on the length of the time spent in a supervised resistance training program: group 1 (n = 11): 0.7 ± 0.3 years, group 2 (n = 9): 1.6 ± 0.2 years, and group 3 (n = 9): 2.4 ± 0.6 years. Monitoring tests consisted of standing height (cm), body mass (kg), body fat (%), static jump height (SJH) and countermovement JH (CMJH) with 0-, 11-, and 20-kg loads (cm), and midthigh clean pull isometric peak force (IPF) and allometrically scaled IPF (IPFa) (N·kg). Increasing trends were observed for all variables from groups 1 to 2 to 3. Statistically greater improvements (p ≤ 0.05) with moderate to large effect sizes were found between groups 1 and 3 for SJH 0 (19.7%, d = 1.35), SJH 11 (23.8%, d = 1.23), SJH 20 (30.6%, d = 1.20), CMJH 11 (22.6%, d = 1.18), IPF (44.4%, d = 1.22), and IPFa (41.2%, d = 1.32). A combination of traditional resistance training exercises and weightlifting variations at various loads, in addition to volleyball practice, seem to be effective at increasing maximal strength by 44% and vertical JH by 20-30% in NCAA division I women's volleyball athletes after about 2.5 years of training. Furthermore, these characteristics can be improved in the absence of additional plyometric training outside normal volleyball-specific practice.

An Investigation Into the Effects of Excluding the Catch Phase of the Power Clean on Force-Time Characteristics During Isometric and Dynamic Tasks: An Intervention Study

“…In addition, the transfer of weightlifting style training, has recently been reported to result in only small changes in jump performance over relatively short training periods (26), as observed here. In contrast however, traditional resistance training combined with weightlifting derivatives has been shown to enhance longitudinal maximal strength and jump performance (30).…”

“…Moreover, no significant (p > 0.05) differences were observed between these lifts irrespective of the inclusion or exclusion of the catch phase (5,6). In addition, Suchomel et al (47) reported that the jump shrug, (similar to the mid-thigh pull but initiated with a countermovement and the athlete actually leaves the ground) resulted in significantly (p < 0.05) greater PF, peak velocity, and peak power compared to the hang power clean and hang high pull across all loads (30,45,65, 80% one repetition maximum [1RM] hang clean), indicating that the removal of a catch phase during a PC derivative is not detrimental to the peak power achieved. Similarly, additional studies by Suchomel et al (45,46) also reported greater relative PF, power, impulse, work, and peak RFD in the jump shrug compared to the hang power clean and hang high pull across loads (30,45,65, 80% 1RM hang clean).…”

“…In addition, Suchomel et al (47) reported that the jump shrug, (similar to the mid-thigh pull but initiated with a countermovement and the athlete actually leaves the ground) resulted in significantly (p < 0.05) greater PF, peak velocity, and peak power compared to the hang power clean and hang high pull across all loads (30,45,65, 80% one repetition maximum [1RM] hang clean), indicating that the removal of a catch phase during a PC derivative is not detrimental to the peak power achieved. Similarly, additional studies by Suchomel et al (45,46) also reported greater relative PF, power, impulse, work, and peak RFD in the jump shrug compared to the hang power clean and hang high pull across loads (30,45,65, 80% 1RM hang clean). More recently, researchers have examined these differences at the joint-level, with Kipp et al (32) indicating that the jump shrug produces greater magnitudes of joint work and power compared to the hang power clean across several loads.…”

Core Stability and Symmetry of Youth Female Volleyball Players: A Pilot Study on Anthropometric and Physiological Correlates

“…The research hypothesis was that increased core stability indices would be associated with high scores of WAnT and Bosco test indices, and low BF. Since anaerobic capacity and body composition were related to performance [4,5], a potential association of core stability indices with these variables would highlight the relevance of core stability with performance.…”

“…A potential misbalance between torso flexors and extensors might be attributed to bidirectional variations (either high or low scores) of flexors muscle endurance rather than decreased extensors muscle endurance.Symmetry 2020, 12, 249 2 of 10 and tactical characteristics [2,3]. With regards to physiological characteristics, most studies have focused on jumping ability and anaerobic power so far showing that female volleyball players jumped high and were characterized by high levels of anaerobic power [4,5]. Both jumping ability and anaerobic power might vary by age with adults scoring higher than adolescents [6].…”