Standardization of the Technique for a Medicine Ball Throw Test

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Muscular power is an essential component of numerous activities. Maximal throws are sometimes used to assess upper body power, but the angle of the throw, which could make an impact on the distance achieved, is typically either controlled with complicated methods or not controlled at all in the existing literature PURPOSE: Establish consistent and simple procedures to control the effort of a medicine ball throw protocol and establish the reliability and norms for the test. METHODS: 124 males and 96 females sat on the floor with their back against a wall, knees bent, and feet flat on the ground. On the adjoining wall a sheet of paper displayed lines at a 45 degree angle. After a technician aligned the subject's outstretched arms with the lines on the sheet, subjects were told to find a point of reference that they were pointing at with their hands. They then held a 6-pound medicine ball at their sternum and were instructed to launch the ball directly at the spot selected. Hand chalk was applied to the ball to indicate the landing spot. After three light practice throws subjects performed a maximal effort three times, with the distance from the wall to the nearest point of the landing spot determined. On a separate occasion 38 subjects completed the protocol a second time to establish test-retest reliability. RESULTS: Subjects found the process for launching the ball at the proper angle simple to follow. Paired T-test revealed no significant difference between the best throw and the average of the two best throws (p<0.01). Interclass correlation revealed a high test-retest reliability for the procedure (r=0.98). Maximal throw distance showed moderate to good correlation with both height (r=0.72) and weight (r=0.63). The median distance for males was 223.4 inches, with 25th and 75th percentile values of 199.6 and 245.4 inches, respectively. The median distance for females was 143.1 inches, with 25th and 75th percentile values of 128.4 and 154.6 inches, respectively. Relative to height and weight, males and females had median values of 3.22 and 2.21 inches per inch of height, respectively, and median values of 1.27 and 0.99 inches per pound, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The protocol demonstrates high reliability and provides a simple mechanism to assist subjects in achieving the desired angle of launch.