Informativeness of vertical jump attempts with deferring spatial structure in speed climbing

Abstract

Aim. Vertical jump tests (VJT), used in the study among speed climbers, have shown that lower limb explosive strength is an important factor determining success in this sport. However, the correlation coefficients between VJT and climb time reported in the literature indicate: poor to good validity of using the results of these tests as a means of controlling athlete preparation. The purpose of this study was to assess the informative nature of the VJT of varying technical complexity on an athlete’s preparation for competition. Materials. The material of the study was a group of 5 women (x̃=23.8 years) and 5 men (x̃=20.8 years), members of the Polish National Team. The following tests were performed: CMJ without sweep (CMJbz), CMJ with sweep (CMJ), CMJ with rotation about the body axis (CMJ 360), ten (10) CMJ jumps with sweep at 2/3 of the height of the CMJ jump with sweep, motor reaction time (RT) to a sound signal. Results and Conclusions. Our results showed that of the trials used, only the CMJ with swing (CMJ), CMJ without swing (CMJws), and CMJ with rotation (CMJ-360) were most accurate. The CMJ-360 trial, which was of higher complexity, indicated the highest accuracy and the lowest estimation error of the expected speed climb time.