Jump Performance And Landing Mechanics Maintained Throughout Exhaustive Bout Of Jumping In Female Volleyball Athletes

Understanding how an athlete’s performance changes when exhausted may provide valuable insights towards mitigating injury and optimizing performance. Further, establishing what threshold of physical activity coincides with impaired performance, during an exhaustive bout of exercise, may provide a strategic advantage to an athletic cohort. PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to simulate the volume of jumping experienced during a volleyball match and to determine the effects of exhaustion on countermovement jump metrics in female collegiate volleyball players. METHODS: Fifteen (n = 15) volleyball athletes were convenience sampled to participate in the study (181 ± 7 cm, 74 ± 6 kg, 21 ± 2 years). The data collection included kinetic assessments before (A0) and throughout (A1-A5) an exhaustive jumping protocol. This protocol included five sets of 30 countermovement jumps at 85% of the maximal jump height observed during the baseline assessment (A0), with three minutes of inter-set rest provided. The countermovement jump was quantified by vertical ground reaction forces (1000 Hz) and defined by net positive impulse, rate of force development when jumping, peak jump height, and peak landing force. Raw kinetic data were filtered using a 4th order, zero lag, lowpass Butterworth digital filter (50 Hz). Exhaustion was assessed via self-reported CR10-RPE and a MANOVA was performed on all dependent variables across all time periods. RESULTS: The post-jump protocol exhaustion level was considered “severe” (6.3 ± 1.0), yet no significant changes in jump height (A0: 36 ± 9 cm; A1: 37 ± 18 cm; A2: 37 ± 19 cm; A3: 36 ± 13 cm; A4: 38 ± 20 cm; A5: 35 ± 8 cm) or kinetics were observed throughout the exhaustive protocol (p > 0.81). This includes no significant findings for group, interaction, or main effects for all measures. CONCLUSION: The sample cohort was highly resistant to reductions in jump metrics throughout a simulated volleyball match, despite high levels of self-reported exhaustion. These results suggest a highly trained dynamic task, such as a countermovement jump in jumping athletes, may not be effective in tracking perceived exhaustion levels. Those working closely with jumping athletes may benefit from gauging exhaustion with a metric not derived from countermovement jump kinetics. FUNDING: NIH NIGAMS G262-20-W7828