Isometric Mid-thigh Pull Correlates With Power, Sprint, Agility And Smash Performance In Junior Female Badminton Players

Abstract

PURPOSE: Badminton is a racket sport characterized by high-intensity, intermittent actions. Some of the most important aspects of fitness required for badminton highlighted in the literature include speed, agility, strength, and power. Traditional strength testing such as one repetition maximum (1RM) squat can be time-consuming and inaccurate. As an alternative choice, the isometric mid-thigh pull (IMTP) has been shown to be related to performance variables such as vertical jump, strength, sprint, and agility in various sports. There are two primary variables for IMTP, the first is to quantify the athlete’s maximal force-generating capacity, known as peak force, and the second is to assess the rate at which force can be applied during a maximal effort muscle contraction, called as the rate of force development. This study aimed to examine the relationship among IMTP, vertical jump, sprint, agility and smash performance in elite junior female badminton players. METHODS: Twenty-three national level junior female badminton players (Age: 15.21 ± 0.89 y; Height: 1.71 ± 0.06 m; Body mass: 58.54 ± 6.90 kg; Training age: 7.32±1.95 y) participated in this investigation. The participants performed IMTP, vertical jump, 10-m sprint, badminton-specific change-of-direction testing, and forehand smash velocity testing. Bivariate correlation analysis (Pearson product-moment correlations) was used to examine the relationship between IMTP kinetic variables and sprint, agility and smash performance. RESULTS: Peak force had a significant negative correlation with 10-m sprint time (r = -.582, p = .004), left (r = -.662, p = .001) and right (r = -.664, p = .001) pro-agility time. Peak force also had a significant positive correlation with smash velocity (r = .418, p = .047) and vertical jump power (r = .514, p = .012). Rate of force development had a significant negative correlation with 10-m sprint time (r = -.636, p = .001), left (r = -.575, p = .004) and right (r = -.546, p = .007) pro-agility time, as well as a significant positive correlation with vertical jump power (r = .534, p = .009). CONCLUSIONS: Results from this investigation demonstrate that IMTP variables such as peak force and rate of force development are associated with jump, sprint, agility and sport-specific performance in elite junior female badminton players.