title: Which jump variables should be used to assess explosive leg muscle function?
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The main purpose of this study was to determine the relationships between countermovement jump (CMJ) variables and acceleration and maximum speed performance.
  
  
  METHODS
  Twenty-three elite Australian football players were tested on a CMJ, which yielded several kinematic and kinetic variables describing leg muscle function. A 40 m sprint was also conducted to assess acceleration (10 m time) and an estimate of maximum speed (flying 20 m time). Players from one Australian Football League (AFL) club were tested and Pearson correlations for CMJ variables and sprint performance were calculated.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Jump height, peak velocity, peak force, and peak power had less than 50% common variance, and therefore represented independent expressions of CMJ performance. Generally, the correlations between CMJ variables and sprinting performance were stronger for maximum speed (small to large effect sizes) than for acceleration (trivial to moderate sizes). The variable that produced the strongest correlation with acceleration was jump height (r = -0.430, P = .041) and with maximum speed was peak power/weight (r = -0.649, P = .001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results indicate that if an integrated system comprising a position transducer and a force platform is available for CMJ assessment, jump height and peak power/weight are useful variables to describe leg muscle explosive function for athletes who perform sprints.
authors.affiliation: School of Human Movement and Sport Sciences, University of Ballarat, Ballarat, Victoria, Australia.
authors.forename: Warren
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Young
authors.forename: Stuart
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Cormack
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Crichton
mesh_terms: D000054:Acceleration; D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena; D006801:Humans; D035002:Lower Extremity; D008297:Male; D009119:Muscle Contraction; D053580:Muscle Strength; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000502:physiology*; D012420:Running; D013177:Sports; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis; D013997:Time Factors; D014160:Transducers, Pressure; D055815:Young Adult