Relationship between off-ice testing variables and on-ice speed in women's collegiate synchronized figure skaters: implications for training.
The purpose of the current investigation was to identify any existing relationships between off-ice performance measures and on-ice performance quantified by speed and acceleration. Twenty-seven women (age 19 +/- 1 year; body mass (59.5 +/- 6.8 kg; height 164.6 +/- 6.35 cm; body fat 23.2 +/- 3.9%) who were collegiate synchronized figure skaters volunteered for the investigation. To examine the relationship between off-ice performance and on-ice speed and acceleration, collegiate synchronized skaters were evaluated on various performance tests over a 1-week period. Off-ice tests completed were peak torque for hip abduction and adduction, 40-yard sprint, vertical jump height, 30-second slide board stride count, and a 1-RM (repetition maximum) squat. On-ice tests included a timed single lap sprint, 4.5-minute (duration of long program) lap count, and an approximately 16.5-m (18-yard blue line to blue line) timed acceleration. Significance was set at P < or = 0.05. This study showed 3 primary findings: (a) slide board stride count was the single best predictor for both single lap on-ice speed and acceleration accounting for 53.5% (adjusted R2 value) of the variance in the single lap test and 42.5% (adjusted R2 value) of the variance in acceleration times; (b) vertical jump height test was the second best predictor for both the single lap test and on-ice acceleration accounting for 36.6% and 39.9% (adjusted R2 values) of the variance in times recorded, respectively; and (c) the best combined predictors for the single lap speed test were slide board stride count and 40-yard dash (R2 = 0.675), whereas the best combined predictors for on-ice acceleration were slide board stride count and vertical jump height test (R2 = 0.571). Conditioning for synchronized skaters to enhance performance of on-the-ice speed and acceleration should include slide board training implementation of plyometric and linear speed training while developing and maintaining 1-RM strength to support power capabilities.
Bower
Michelle E
ME
Human Performance Laboratory, Department of Kinesiology, University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut, USA.
Kraemer
William J
WJ
Potteiger
Jeffrey A
JA
Volek
Jeff S
JS
Hatfield
Disa A
DA
Vingren
Jakob L
JL
Spiering
Barry A
BA
Fragala
Maren S
MS
Ho
Jen-Yu
JY
Thomas
Gwendolyn A
GA
Earp
Jacob E
JE
Häkkinen
Keijo
K
Maresh
Carl M
CM
D054874:Athletic Performance / Q000502:physiology; D015992:Body Mass Index; D015444:Exercise / Q000502:physiology; D005080:Exercise Test; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D012861:Skating / Q000193:education / Q000502:physiology*; D055815:Young Adult