Prediction of Anaerobic Power From Standing Long Jump in NCAA Division IA Football Players

Mann, JB, Bird, M, Signorile, JF, Brechue, WF, and Mayhew, JL. Prediction of anaerobic power from standing long jump in NCAA Division IA football players. J Strength Cond Res 35(6): 1542-1546, 2021-Despite the popularity of the standing long jump (SLJ), limited research has explored the estimation of power developed during this test. The purpose of this study was to determine SLJ power from jump distance and selected anthropometric measures in NCAA Division IA football players. Height (Ht), body mass (Wt), thigh length, and lower leg length (LL) were measured in 58 players, allowing calculation of leg ratios of thigh length center dot Ht(-1), LL center dot Ht(-1), and TL center dot SL-1. Players performed 2-3 maximal familiarization trials of SLJ followed by 2 maximal jumps from a 3-dimension force plate sampling at 1,000 Hz. Standing long jump distance (intraclass correlation coefficient [ICC] = 0.944) and power (ICC = 0.926) calculated from resultant force and velocity vectors were highly reliable. Standing Ht (r = 0.40), Wt (r = 0.36), lower leg length (r = 0.43), total leg length (thigh + LLs) (r = 0.38), and best SLJ (r = 0.52) were significantly related (p < 0.05) to peak power, but none accounted for more than 27% of the common variance. Step-wise multiple regression identified SLJ and body mass as the only significant variables necessary to predict peak power (Power [W] = 32.49 center dot SLJ [cm] + 39.69 center dot Wt [kg] - 7,608, R = 0.86, SEE = 488 W, CV% = 9.3%). Standing long jump contributed 56.8% to the known variance, whereas Wt contributed 43.2%. Thus, a combination of SLJ and Wt can be used to effectively estimate explosive power in Division IA college football players.

Automated summary

The study aimed to predict anaerobic power in NCAA Division IA football players using standing long jump distance. Results showed significant relationships between anthropometric measures like height, weight, and leg lengths with peak power, with standing long jump distance and body mass being the key variables for predicting peak power. The combination of standing long jump distance and body mass can effectively estimate explosive power in Division IA college football players.