Resistance Training/Periodization
.jpg "Damjana V. Cabarkapa, MS, CSCS, NSCA-CPT, USAW photo")
Damjana V. Cabarkapa, MS, CSCS, NSCA-CPT, USAW
Doctoral Student
Jayhawk Athletic Performance Laboratory - Wu Tsai Human Performance Alliance
Lawrence, Kansas, United States
Dimitrije Cabarkapa, PhD, CSCS*D, NSCA-CPT*D, USAW
Director of Basketball Research
Jayhawk Athletic Performance Laboratory - University of Kansas
Lawrence, Kansas, United States
Andrew C. Fry, PhD, CSCS*D, FNSCA*E
Director, Jayhawk Athletic Performance Laboratory
University of Kansas
Lawrence, Kansas, United States
Countermovement vertical jump (CVJ) is one of the most commonly used assessments of athletes’ lower body muscular power. Although being one of the most prevalent movements in volleyball (e.g., attacking, blocking, serving) there is still a lack of scientific literature examining fatigue-induced changes in biomechanical characteristics of CVJ within a cohort of elite athletes.
Purpose: Thus, the purpose of the present study was to examine pre-post practice changes in CVJ force-time metrics in professional male volleyball players.
Methods: Ten elite athletes (age= 21.4±2.2 yrs; hgt= 197.3±7.0 cm; wgt= 87.1±7.3 kg) competing at one of the top European leagues (e.g., SuperLeague) participated in this investigation. Each athlete performed three CVJ pre and immediately post-practice while standing on a uni-axial force plate system (i.e., VALD, ForceDecks, Queensland, Australia) sampling at 1000 Hz. The practice session consisted of position-specific offensive and defensive drills (20 min) and 6-on-6 play (60 min). The following metrics were obtained from the force plate: braking phase duration and impulse, eccentric and concentric duration, mean and peak force and power, contraction time, vertical jump height, and reactive strength index-modified (RSI-modified). A paired-sample t-test and Hedge’s g were used to examine statistically significant (p< 0.05) differences and the effect size magnitude of pre-post practice changes in CVJ force-time metrics of interest.
Results: No significant differences (p>0.05) were observed in force-time metrics pre-post practice and all changes were trivial to small in magnitude (Table 1).
Conclusions: The findings of the present study reveal that the professional male volleyball players were not prone to experiencing fatigue-induced changes in force-time metrics pre-post practice, likely due to being adequately prepared for on-court competitive demands by their respective strength and conditioning staff. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS: While further research that includes quantification of internal and external loads that the athletes were exposed to is warranted, these findings imply that solely being focused on analyzing these CVJ force-time metrics may not be a suitable method for monitoring acute fatigue-induced changes in performance within a cohort of elite male volleyball players.
Acknowledgements: N/A