Vertical jump testing in rugby league: a rationale for calculating take-off momentum

McMahon, JJ; Lake, JP; Ripley, NJ; Comfort, P

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine the usefulness of calculating jump take-off momentum in rugby league (RL) by exploring its relationship with sprint momentum, due to the latter being an important attribute of this sport. Twenty-five male RL players performed 3 maximal-effort countermovement jumps on a force platform and 3 maximal effort 20-m sprints (with split times recorded). Jump take-off momentum and sprint momentum (between 0 and 5, 5 and 10, and 10 and 20 m) were calculated (mass multiplied by velocity) and their relationship determined. There was a very large positive relationship between both jump take-off and 0- to 5-m sprint momentum (r = .781, P < .001) and jump take-off and 5- to 10-m sprint momentum (r = .878, P < .001). There was a nearly perfect positive relationship between jump take-off and 10- to 20-m sprint momentum (r = .920, P < .001). Jump take-off and sprint momentum demonstrated good–excellent reliability and very large–nearly perfect associations (61%–85% common variance) in an RL cohort, enabling prediction equations to be created. Thus, it may be practically useful to calculate jump take-off momentum as part of routine countermovement jump testing of RL players and other collision-sport athletes to enable the indirect monitoring of sprint momentum.

Citation

McMahon, J., Lake, J., Ripley, N., & Comfort, P. (2020). Vertical jump testing in rugby league: a rationale for calculating take-off momentum. Journal of Applied Biomechanics, 36(6), 370-374. https://doi.org/10.1123/JAB.2020-0100

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Publication Date: Aug 14, 2020
• Deposit Date: Mar 6, 2023
• Journal: Journal of Applied Biomechanics
• Print ISSN: 1065-8483
• Electronic ISSN: 1065-8483
• Publisher: Human Kinetics
• Volume: 36
• Issue: 6
• Pages: 370-374
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1123/JAB.2020-0100
• Publisher URL: http://doi.org/10.1123/JAB.2020-0100