Correlations of jump height and lower limb power during jump tests with biomechanical parameters of dolphin kick in swimming

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this study was to investigate the correlations of lower limb power and jump height in the SJ, CMJ, ACMJ, and CJ30s tests with time, speed, force, power, and work done during dolphin kick. Methods Seventeen female swimmers and seventeen male swimmers of an elite swimming sports school in Poland participated in the study. The parameters that were recorded and used in the analysis were the jump height and lower limb power in jump tests. In the test of 25 meters of dolphin kick in swimming at maximum pace, the results used in the analysis were the mean values of time, velocity, power, force, and work. Results were expressed as means ± standard deviations. Descriptive statistics of the groups were then compiled to finally perform Pearson correlation calculations. Results The highest correlations occurred between lower limb power during jumps and swimming speed, especially for men in the ACMJ (r=0.5468, p=.023) and SJ (r=0.5411, r=.025) tests. Jump height was not as often and strongly correlated with swimming time and speed as lower limb power. An important observation is that no statistically significant correlations were found for lower limb power, force, and work during dolphin kick with lower limb power and jump height. Conclusions The present study showed strong correlations between the performance variables of swimmers on dry land and in water. The most important finding is that the power during all the jumps (ACMJ, SJ, CJ30s, and CMJ) was strongly correlated with the time and speed of swimming using dolphin kick.