Vertical jumping ability in elite young soccer players

Abstract

The jumping ability of a soccer player, as an expression of power, is a basic factor for good performance in the specific sport. The purpose of the present study was to measure and evaluate the power of the leg extensors muscles in elite young soccer players and its differentiation over age; furthermore, to present indicative values for the vertical jumping ability in elite young soccer athletes during developmental ages. One hundred and fifty eight (158) elite young male soccer players aged from 10 to 17 Years old volunteered to participate in this study. The ergojump system developed by Bosco in 1980 was used for the evaluation of vertical jumps. The tests performed were three types of vertical jumps: squat jump (SJ), counter movement jump (CMJ) and counter movement jump with arm swing (CMJAS). For statistical analysis, the one way ANOVA test and Tukey post-hoc test were used for the examination of age differences. The results showed that performance of young soccer players in all jumps was increased over age (p<0.05), although this increment was not statistically significant in all cases. The present study can be helpful for the development of normative data for soccer players from pre-pubertal to post-pubertal stages.