Relationship Of Backward Overhead Medicine Ball Throw With Olympic Weightlifting Performances

Abstract

The backward overhead medicine ball (BOMB) throw has gained some attention as a simple measure for estimating total body explosive power. However, previous research indicates varying degrees of relationship with standard power measurement. to determine the relationship between a BOMB throw and maximal snatch (S) and clean & jerk (CJ) performances of collegiate weightlifters. 12 collegiate Olympic weightlifters (8 men, 4 women, weight = 75.3 ± 15.4 kg, age = 21 ± 1 y) performed 6 maximal attempts of the BOMB throw with a 3.63 kg medicine ball with 1-min rest between throws. The best throw was recorded for analysis. Three to five days after the throws, the subjects competed in a sanctioned weightlifting meet, and their best lifts in the S and CJ were correlated with BOMB throw. Intraclass correlation coefficient across all 6 trial (ICC = 0.99) indicated a high degree of reliability. There was no significant difference across trials, although the average percent improvement between successive throws did not level off until the 3rd throw (1.2 ± 19.6%). Best BOMB throw was significantly correlated (p < 0.01) with S (r = 0.85) and CJ (r = 0.90). Body mass was significantly correlated with BOMB throw (r = 0.78), S (r = 0.83), and CJ (r = 0.82). The correlation of BOMB throw with Sinclair-adjusted S (r = 0.81) and CJ (r = 0.86) were significant. When body mass were partialed out, the relationship of BOMB throw with S (r = 0.59) and CJ (r = 0.72) decreased but remained significant. When gender was partialed out, the relationship of BOMB throw with S (r = 0.49, p = 0.13) and CJ (r = 0.67, p = 0.03) decreased more for S than for CJ. Partialing out both body mass and gender reduced the correlations of BOMB throw with S (r = 0.04, p = 0.90) and CJ ((r = 0.43, p = 0.21) to nonsignificance. The strong correlations between the BOMB throw and maximal S and CJ performances of collegiate weightlifter maybe dependent on body mass. The BOMB throw distance may be strongly dependant on body mass but may reflect a unique aspect of total body power. Further research is warranted to determine if an adjustment scaling technique is required to facilitate its use on a wide variety of athletes.