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Int J Sports Med 2018; 39(03): 189-197
DOI: 10.1055/s-0043-122738
Training & Testing
© Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York

Functional Screening Tests: Interrelationships and Ability to Predict Vertical Jump Performance

Irineu Loturco
1   NAR - Nucleus of High Performance in Sport, Sport Science, São Paulo, Brazil
2   Universidade Federal de São Paulo, Escola Paulista de Medicina, Department of Orthopedics and Traumatology, São Paulo, Brazil
,
Lucas Adriano Pereira
1   NAR - Nucleus of High Performance in Sport, Sport Science, São Paulo, Brazil
,
Ronaldo Kobal
1   NAR - Nucleus of High Performance in Sport, Sport Science, São Paulo, Brazil
,
Cesar Cavinato Cal Abad
1   NAR - Nucleus of High Performance in Sport, Sport Science, São Paulo, Brazil
,
William Komatsu
2   Universidade Federal de São Paulo, Escola Paulista de Medicina, Department of Orthopedics and Traumatology, São Paulo, Brazil
,
Ronaldo Cunha
2   Universidade Federal de São Paulo, Escola Paulista de Medicina, Department of Orthopedics and Traumatology, São Paulo, Brazil
,
Gustavo Arliani
2   Universidade Federal de São Paulo, Escola Paulista de Medicina, Department of Orthopedics and Traumatology, São Paulo, Brazil
,
Benno Ejnisman
2   Universidade Federal de São Paulo, Escola Paulista de Medicina, Department of Orthopedics and Traumatology, São Paulo, Brazil
,
Alberto de Castro Pochini
2   Universidade Federal de São Paulo, Escola Paulista de Medicina, Department of Orthopedics and Traumatology, São Paulo, Brazil
,
Fábio Yuzo Nakamura
3   Universidade Estadual de Londrina, Departamento de Educação Física, Londrina, Brazil
,
Moises Cohen
2   Universidade Federal de São Paulo, Escola Paulista de Medicina, Department of Orthopedics and Traumatology, São Paulo, Brazil
› Author Affiliations
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Publication History



accepted after revision 22 October 2017

Publication Date:
28 December 2017 (online)

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Abstract

There are several methods used in sports science to identify asymmetries in athletes, given their purported relevance to injury prevention and performance optimization. We aimed to verify whether asymmetries provided by isokinetic assessments, jump tests, and tensiomyography (TMG) are associated with each other, and whether their respective functional indices are related to jumping ability. TMG parameters, unilateral and bilateral squat-jump (SJ) and countermovement-jump (CMJ) performances, and peak torque in knee-extension and flexion with angular velocities of 60o/s and 300o/s for twenty-four soccer players were retained for analyses. Asymmetry was detected by examining the percentage difference between dominant and non-dominant legs. The median-split technique was used to identify the best and worst performers in SJ and CMJ tests. Results revealed that the asymmetries detected in the three different methods were not interrelated. Curiously, better performances in SJ and CMJ tests were associated with higher asymmetry levels. Furthermore, only the knee-extension peak torque at both angular velocities was correlated moderately to largely (r=0.48-0.66) with jump performance. Despite their recognized ability to predict the risk of injury, the absence of interrelationships between TMG, isokinetic tests, and unilateral jumps precludes their single use as a unique functional screening diagnostic. Finally, and very importantly, lower-limb asymmetry is not necessarily related to impaired vertical jump performance in soccer players.

Key words

injury prevention - team sports - football - plyometrics - functional assessments
 

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