Association between Leg Power and Sprinting Technique with 20-m Sprint Performance in Elite Junior Australian Football Players

Abstract

The main purpose of this study was to determine the association between leg power and sprint technique with 20-m sprint performance. Seventy-seven elite junior Australian Rules football players were assessed on a 20-m sprint test, a countermovement jump (CMJ) and a two bound test, and on a new method of quantifying sprint technique from simple video recordings. Technique assessment involved rating 14 points on a scale from 1–5. Players were median-split into faster and slower groups based on their 20-m times, and they were compared for differences in leg power and technique. The faster group was significantly better (p<0.05) in the two-bound test (5.2%) and the technique score (8.2%), but not in the CMJ (p>0.05). A multiple regression indicated that the two-bound test and technique accounted for 37.7% of the variance associated with the 20-m sprint time (p<0.05). It was concluded that the technique assessment tool captured some important characteristics of 20-m sprint performance and could potentially be used to profile or monitor athletes. Further the two-bound test is a more relevant test for developing athletes because of its specificity to sprinting, compared to the CMJ.