Download PDF
Int J Sports Med 2017; 38(09): 683-690
DOI: 10.1055/s-0043-112340
Training & Testing
© Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York

Determining Bilateral Strength Imbalances in Youth Basketball Athletes

Christopher Thomas
1   Directorate of Sport, Exercise and Physiotherapy, University of Salford, Manchester, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
,
Paul Comfort
1   Directorate of Sport, Exercise and Physiotherapy, University of Salford, Manchester, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
,
Thomas Dos’Santos
1   Directorate of Sport, Exercise and Physiotherapy, University of Salford, Manchester, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
,
Paul A. Jones
1   Directorate of Sport, Exercise and Physiotherapy, University of Salford, Manchester, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
› Author Affiliations
Further Information

Publication History



accepted 14 May 2017

Publication Date:
02 August 2017 (online)

Also available at
    Permissions and Reprints

Abstract

The aims of this study were: 1) to compare the strongest (D) and weakest (ND) limbs in determining muscle strength asymmetry (MSA) ratios among various muscle strength qualities and 2) to determine the relationships among various muscle strength qualities. 17 youth male basketball athletes (age=17.5±0.8 years; height=187.1±9.4 cm; body mass=81.4±10.1 kg) participated in this study. Knee flexor and extensor strength at 60°·s−1 was assessed for both limbs with the use of isokinetic dynamometry. Other tests involved single-leg hop (SLH), countermovement jump (CMJ) and isometric mid-thigh pull (IMTP). Statistically significant differences (p<0.05; d=0.40-0.98) were found between D and ND limbs for all strength measures. Imbalance ratio of the IMTP was significantly related to those of SLH (r=0.75, p=0.01) whereas no significant relationships between D:ND ratios were found from all other tests. Percentage agreements of MSA ranged from 64.7–88.2% between muscle strength qualities. The findings provide support for the use of field tests to detect lower-limb strength imbalances. Future research should examine the effect of different asymmetry thresholds on percentage agreements to diagnose MSA and determine its relationship to athletic performance.

Key words

asymmetry - isokinetics - hop tests - countermovement jump - mid-thigh pull
 

  • References

  • 1 Aldukhail A, Jones P, Gillard H, Graham-Smith P. Clinical diagnosis of strength and power asymmetry. Biol Sport 2013; 15: 33-38
    PubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 2 Bailey C, Sato K, Alexander R, Chiang C-YH, Stone M. Isometric force production symmetry and jumping performance in collegiate athletes. J Trainol 2013; 2: 1-5
    PubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 3 Bailey CA, Sato K, Burnett A, Stone MH. Carry-over of force production symmetry in athletes of differing strength levels. J Strength Cond Res 2015; 29: 3188-3196
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 4 Bailey CA, Sato K, Burnett A, Stone MH. Force-production asymmetry in male and female athletes of differing strength levels. Int J Sports Physiol Perform 2015; 10: 504-508
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 5 Baumgartner TA, Chung H. Confidence limits for intraclass reliability coefficients. Meas Phys Educ Exerc Sci 2001; 5: 179-188
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 6 Bazyler CD, Bailey CA, Chiang C-Y, Sato K, Stone MH. The effects of strength training on isometric force production symmetry in recreationally trained males. J Trainol 2014; 3: 6-10
    PubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 7 Bell D, Sanfilippo J, Binkley N. Lean mass asymmetry influences force and power asymmetry during jumping in collegiate athletes. J Strength Cond Res 2014; 28: 884-891
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 8 Bishop C, Read P, Chavda S, Turner A. Asymmetries of the lower limb: The calculation conundrum in strength training and conditioning. Strength Cond J 2016; 38: 27-32
    PubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 9 Blackburn J, Morrissey M. The relationship between open and closed kinetic chain strength of the lower limb and jumping performance. J Orthop Sports Phys Ther 1998; 27: 430-435
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 10 Brown SR, Brughelli M, Bridgeman LA. Profiling isokinetic strength by leg preference and position in rugby union athletes. Int J Sports Physiol Perform 2016; 11: 500-507
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 11 Comfort P, Jones PA, McMahon JJ, Newton R. Effect of knee and trunk angle on kinetic variables during the isometric midthigh pull: Test-retest reliability. Int J Sports Physiol Perform 2015; 10: 58-63
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 12 Cronin JB, Hansen KT. Strength and power predictors of sports speed. J Strength Cond Res 2005; 19: 349-357
    PubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 13 de Ruiter CJ, de Korte A, Schreven S, De Haan A. Leg dominancy in relation to fast isometric torque production and squat jump height. Eur J Appl Physiol 2010; 108: 247-255
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 14 Dos'Santos T, Thomas C, Jones P, Comfort P. Assessing muscle strength asymmetry via a unilateral stance isometric mid-thigh pull. Int J Sports Physiol Perform 2016
    PubMed
  • 15 Exell TA, Gittoes MJ, Irwin G, Kerwin DG. Gait asymmetry: Composite scores for mechanical analyses of sprint running. J Biomech 2012; 45: 1108-1111
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 16 Flanagan EP, Harrison AJ. Muscle dynamics differences between legs in healthy adults. J Strength Cond Res 2007; 21: 67-72
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 17 Furlong L-AM, Harrison AJ. Reliability and consistency of plantarflexor stretch-shortening cycle function using an adapted force sledge apparatus. Physiol Meas 2013; 34: 437
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 18 Furlong L-AM, Harrison AJ. Differences in plantarflexor function during a stretch-shortening cycle task due to limb preference. Laterality: Asymmetries of Body, Brain Cognit 2015; 20: 128-140
    PubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 19 Graham-Smith P, Al-Dukhail A, Jones P. Agreement between attributes associated with bilateral jump asymmetry. In, ISBS-Conference Proceedings Archive; 2015;
    PubMed
  • 20 Graham-Smith P, Jones PA, Comfort P. Assessment of knee flexor and extensor muscle balance. Int J Athl Ther Train 2013; 18: 1-5
    PubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 21 Harriss D, Atkinson G. Ethical standards in sport and exercise science research: 2016 update. Int J Sports Med 2015; 36: 1121-1124
    Article in Thieme ConnectPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 22 Hart NH, Nimphius S, Spiteri T, Newton RU. Leg strength and lean mass symmetry influences kicking performance in Australian Football. J Sports Sci Med 2014; 13: 157
    PubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 23 Hewit JK, Cronin JB, Hume PA. Asymmetry in multi-directional jumping tasks. Phys Ther Sport 2012; 13: 238-242
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 24 Holsgaard-Larsen A, Jensen C, Mortensen NHM, Aagaard P. Concurrent assessments of lower limb loading patterns, mechanical muscle strength and functional performance in ACL-patients — A cross-sectional study. Knee 2014; 21: 66-73
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 25 Hopkins W, Marshall S, Batterham A, Hanin J. Progressive statistics for studies in sports medicine and exercise science. Med Sci Sports Exerc 2009; 41: 3
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 26 Impellizzeri FM, Rampinini E, Maffiuletti N, Marcora SM. A vertical jump force test for assessing bilateral strength asymmetry in athletes. Med Sci Sports Exerc 2007; 39: 2044-2050
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 27 Jones PA, Bampouras TM. A Comparison of isokinetic and functional methods of assessing bilateral strength imbalance. J Strength Cond Res 2010; 24: 1553-1558
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 28 Kannus P. Isokinetic evaluation of muscular performance: implications for muscle testing and rehabilitation. Int J Sports Med 1994; 15: S11-S18
    Article in Thieme ConnectPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 29 Kobayashi Y, Kubo J, Matsubayashi T, Matsuo A, Kobayashi K, Ishii N. Relationship between bilateral differences in single-leg jumps and asymmetry in isokinetic knee strength. J Appl Biomech 2013; 29: 61-67
    PubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 30 Lockie RG, Callaghan SJ, Berry SP, Cooke ERA, Jordan CA, Luczo TM, Jeffriess MD. Relationship between unilateral jumping ability and asymmetry on multidirectional speed in team-sport athletes. J Strength Cond Res 2014; 28: 3557-3566
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 31 Lockie RG, Schultz AB, Jeffriess MD, Callaghan SJ. The relationship between bilateral differences of knee flexor and extensor isokinetic strength and multi-directional speed. Isokinet Exerc Sci 2012; 20: 211-219
    PubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 32 McElveen MT, Riemann BL, Davies GJ. Bilateral comparison of propulsion mechanics during single-leg vertical jumping. J Strength Cond Res 2010; 24: 375-381
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 33 Moir GL. Three different methods of calculating vertical jump height from force platform data in men and women. Meas Phys Educ Exerc Sci 2008; 12: 207-218
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 34 Munro AG, Herrington LC. Between-session reliability of four hop tests and the agility T-Test. J Strength Cond Res 2011; 25: 1470-1477
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 35 Myers BA, Jenkins WL, Killian C, Rundquist P. Normative data for hop tests in high school and collegiate basketball and soccer players. Int J Sports Phys Ther 2014; 9: 596-603
    PubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 36 Newton RU, Gerber A, Nimphius S, Shim JK, Doan BK, Robertson M, Pearson DR, Craig BW, Hakinnen K, Kraemer WJ. Determination of functional strength imbalance of the lower extremities. J Strength Cond Res 2006; 20: 971-977
    PubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 37 Owen NJ, Watkins J, Kilduff LP, Bevan HR, Bennett MA. Development of a criterion method to determine peak mechanical power output in a countermovement jump. J Strength Cond Res 2014; 28: 1552-1558
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 38 Schlumberger A, Laube W, Bruhn S, Herbeck B, Dahlinger M, Fenkart G, Schmidtbleicher D, Mayer F. Muscle imbalances–fact or fiction?. Isokinet Exerc Sci 2006; 14: 3-11
    PubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 39 Stone MH, Sands WA, Pierce KC, Carlock J, Cardinale M, Newton RU. Relationship of maximum strength to weightlifting performance. Med Sci Sports Exerc 2005; 37: 1037-1043
    PubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 40 Theoharopolous A, Tsitskaris G, Tsaklis P. Knee Strength of Professional Basketball Players. J Strength Cond Res 2000; 14: 457-463
    PubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 41 Thomas C, Dos’Santos T, Comfort PA, Jones P. Relationship between isometric strength, sprint, and change of direction speed in male academy cricketers. J Trainol 2016; 5: 18-23
    PubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 42 Thomas JR, Nelson JK, Silverman SJ. Research methods in physical activity. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics; 2010
    Google Scholar