Vertical Jump Testing in Rugby League: A Rationale for Calculating Take-Off Momentum
in Journal of Applied BiomechanicsClick name to view affiliation
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.
McMahon, Ripley, and Comfort are with the School of Psychology and Sport, University of Salford, Salford, United Kingdom. Lake is with the Chichester Institute of Sport, University of Chichester, Chichester, United Kingdom. Comfort is with the Institute for Sport, Physical Activity and Leisure, Carnegie School of Sport, Leeds Beckett University, Leeds, United Kingdom; and the Centre for Exercise and Sport Science Research, Edith Cowan University, Joondalup, WA, Australia.
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