The Effect of Levels of Cushioning on Athlete Fatigue During a Series of Vertical Jumps

School Name

Spring Valley High School

Grade Level

10th Grade

Presentation Topic

Physiology and Health

Presentation Type

Non-Mentored

Abstract

Physical fatigue and injury are common in sports and can either be from short term or chronic events. Injuries are more likely to happen in high school and college athletes because of uneven growth patterns of bones, muscles, and tendons. Assessing the optimal conditions of a vertical jump could decrease the risk of injury in athletes. The purpose of this study was to find the optimal level of cushioning to reduce athlete fatigue and increase consistency. It was hypothesized that an increase in cushioning would increase consistency in jumps and decrease levels of fatigue. This research is important because it explores ways to minimize and prevent injury to growing athletes during vertical jump tasks. These results provide a basis for actions to be taken to standardize these techniques that reduce injuries in vertical jumping tasks across sports. A force plate was jumped off of 30 times with the intention to reach maximum height across four trial groups. The output data from the force plate was used to create a time-force curve analysis and the peak force values were used for analysis. The data showed that consistency and cushioning were directly proportional, while fatigue and cushioning were indirectly proportional. Results of a one-way ANOVA test with an alpha level of 0.05 suggests that there was a significant difference between trial groups (p<0.001). A post-hoc Tukey test confirmed that there was a significant difference between the control and high jump, as well as the running and high jump groups.

Location

RITA 373

Start Date

3-23-2024 10:00 AM

Presentation Format

Oral and Written

Group Project

No

COinS
 
Mar 23rd, 10:00 AM

The Effect of Levels of Cushioning on Athlete Fatigue During a Series of Vertical Jumps

RITA 373

Physical fatigue and injury are common in sports and can either be from short term or chronic events. Injuries are more likely to happen in high school and college athletes because of uneven growth patterns of bones, muscles, and tendons. Assessing the optimal conditions of a vertical jump could decrease the risk of injury in athletes. The purpose of this study was to find the optimal level of cushioning to reduce athlete fatigue and increase consistency. It was hypothesized that an increase in cushioning would increase consistency in jumps and decrease levels of fatigue. This research is important because it explores ways to minimize and prevent injury to growing athletes during vertical jump tasks. These results provide a basis for actions to be taken to standardize these techniques that reduce injuries in vertical jumping tasks across sports. A force plate was jumped off of 30 times with the intention to reach maximum height across four trial groups. The output data from the force plate was used to create a time-force curve analysis and the peak force values were used for analysis. The data showed that consistency and cushioning were directly proportional, while fatigue and cushioning were indirectly proportional. Results of a one-way ANOVA test with an alpha level of 0.05 suggests that there was a significant difference between trial groups (p<0.001). A post-hoc Tukey test confirmed that there was a significant difference between the control and high jump, as well as the running and high jump groups.