Quantifying jump-specific loads in beach volleyball by an inertial measurement device

Abstract

The ability to complete a large volume of high intensity jumps represents an important performance indicator in beach volleyball. Inertial measurement units are suitable tools to monitor those jump-specific loads but the applicability in beach volleyball lacks research. This study evaluates the accuracy of a commercially available inertial measurement device in beach volleyball for (i) jump count during match-play and (ii) jump height measurement under laboratory conditions. Jump count measures were compared to retrospective video analysis to determine precision and recall. Jump heights were referenced to three-dimensional motion analysis to determine typical errors of estimate, correlations and Bland-Altman statistics. Match-play analysis results in excellent precision (0.975) for a total of 439 jumps and recall values between 0.836–1.000 depending on jump type. Jump heights revealed good to excellent correlations for block (r = 0.81) and spike jumps (r = 0.90), with a mean bias of 2.61 and 7.69 cm, respectively. The device demonstrates good validity for measuring jump count as well as vertical displacement. Due to its potential for nearly real time feedback with constraints of limited resources, we assume that this device will have considerable benefits for quantifying jump-specific load in beach volleyball.

Concurrent Validity and Reliability of In-Field Vertical Jump Performance Measures on Sand Surfaces

“…These large LoA values exceed the acceptable range for high-level performance diagnostics in sports and the accurate interpretation of test results following training or intervention. The findings align with those of Schmidt et al (35), reporting a LoA of 15.3 cm for volleyball block jumps and 13.2 cm for attack jumps. An individual analysis by Schmidt et al (35) revealed a broad range of LoA for individual subjects.…”

“…The findings align with those of Schmidt et al (35), reporting a LoA of 15.3 cm for volleyball block jumps and 13.2 cm for attack jumps. An individual analysis by Schmidt et al (35) revealed a broad range of LoA for individual subjects. A possible factor could be different performance levels and resulting jumping techniques of subjects (sixth to first German division); moreover, specific jumping techniques (block and spike) might also play a role compared with conventional jumps.…”

“…This may account for the failure to detect 18 jumps (8.5%) in this investigation. Similarly, Schmidt et al (35) found as little as an 83% jump detection accuracy depending on the sand surface's jump type. MacDonald et al (24) also reported a difference between visually counted and detected jumps on firm ground.…”

Drop Jumping on Sand Is Characterized by Lower Power, Higher Rate of Force Development and Larger Knee Joint Range of Motion

“…In general, a good vertical jumping performance is of major importance for BV players since vertical jumping is present in the majority of the skills of the sport [ 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 ]. However, past research reported differences concerning vertical jumping on SAND compared to RIGID [ 29 , 33 , 34 , 35 , 36 ].…”

“…A number of studies has measured vertical jump performance on SAND using jump and reach tests [ 19 , 21 , 29 , 31 ]. Other researchers provided information about jumping on SAND using photocell mats [ 10 ], accelerometry [ 15 ] and inertial measurement devices [ 32 ]. Kinetic and kinematic parameters derived from force-plate data have been reported only for SQJ and CMJ [ 33 , 35 , 36 ].…”