engleski

Seasonal fluctuations in vertical jump performance in young alpine skiers

The dominant requirement for success in alpine skiing is explosive power for the lower body that is best exemplified by the vertical jump performance. During vertical jumping, the muscles of the legs and hips act rapidly and with great force in an attempt to produce the greatest possible velocity of the body as it leaves the ground. The aim of this study was to examine the effects of a training and competitive season on vertical jump performance in young alpine skiers. The athletes were tested at the beginning of training cycle, just before the competitions started, at the end of season and after the summer break (Aug and Oct 2000, Apr and Aug 2001). For the purpose of the study 15 young alpine skiers, members of Croatian national squad were tested. The mean SD age, height, body mass and percentage body fat of the participants were 13.44 1.45 yr, 161.01 9.78 cm, 52.97 12.80 kg, 15.84 5.40 %. The vertical jump performance was measured by squat jump (SJ), counter movement jump (CMJ), 15 s and 45 s continuous jumping (CJ15s and CJ45s). Young alpine skiers had better results in all measured tests than normal population of the same age in Croatia, but the maximal heights of SJ and CMJ were lower than in Italian or Austrian skiers of the same age. MANOVA showed the significant changes in vertical jump performance. All measured variables showed significant improvement (p<0.05) from the beginning to the end of training and competition, but later, after a summer break a deterioration of selected tests was noticed. It can be concluded that both training and competition periods had positive influence on vertical jump performance

alpine skiing ; vertical jump ; explosive strength

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