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Tracking the Reliability of Force Plate-Derived Countermovement Jump Metrics Over Time in Female Basketball Athletes: A Comparison of Principal Component Analysis vs. Conventional Methods

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Abstract

Background

Establishing the reliability of countermovement jump (CMJ) metrics over multiple weeks can be important in understanding and tracking changes in jump performance over time. However, a limited number of key performance indicators are generally retained for ease of interpretation. Fortunately, CMJ metrics are often highly correlated, which offers the potential to summarize key jump aspects using principal component analysis (PCA).

Purpose

The objective of this study was to assess and compare the week-to-week (i.e., week 1 vs. week 2, week 2 vs. week 3, etc.) vs. preseason (i.e., nth-week vs. average of the 7-weeks) reliability of CMJ metrics, relative to principal components (PCs).

Methods

Thirteen varsity female basketball athletes completed 17 weeks of CMJ testing (i.e., offseason (4 weeks), preseason (7 weeks), and regular season (6 weeks)). The PCA was developed from all data collected, but only results of the preseason PC scores were examined for reliability purposes.

Results

It was found that both methods displayed comparable reliability, such that 11/18 CMJ metrics and 3/6 PCs displayed excellent weekly reliability (ICC ≥ 0.9), while 17/18 of the CMJ metrics and 5/6 of the PCS displayed excellent reliability when assessed longitudinally. PCs 1–4 explained 83% of the variance in the data relating to force measures, braking metrics, jump power measures, and between-limb differences, respectively.

Conclusion

These findings support the use of PCA in routine longitudinal athletic monitoring, as this technique retains valuable performance information and summarizes distinct aspects of the jump, providing a more holistic assessment of performance and indication of injury susceptibility.

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Funding

J.A.J.K was supported by a departmental Kinesiology Student Research Award funded by McMaster University during the development of this work.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Biomechanics Laboratory, Department of Kinesiology, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, L8S 4L8, Canada

    Joshua A. J. Keogh, Matthew C. Ruder & Dylan Kobsar

  2. London Sports Institute, Middlesex University, London, NW4 4BT, England, UK

    Chris Bishop

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Contributions

JAJK, CB, MR, and DK were involved in the formulation and completion of the research concept, study design, data analysis and interpretation, statistical analyses, writing and reviewal of the manuscript; JAJK completed the literature review and data collection.

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Correspondence to Joshua A. J. Keogh or Dylan Kobsar.

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The authors have no relevant financial or non-financial interests to disclose.

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This study was performed in line with the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki. Approval was granted by the Ethics Committee of McMaster University.

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Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study prior to participation, and all participants consented to having their data published.

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Keogh, J.A.J., Bishop, C., Ruder, M.C. et al. Tracking the Reliability of Force Plate-Derived Countermovement Jump Metrics Over Time in Female Basketball Athletes: A Comparison of Principal Component Analysis vs. Conventional Methods. J. of SCI. IN SPORT AND EXERCISE (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42978-023-00239-8

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