triple hop for distance

Introduction H school, university, and professional sports teams often devote considerable resources (human and capital) to quantify an athlete’s sport potential and to train individuals to improve athletic performance. Athleticism is computed not simply by the points scored or tackles achieved, but also through metrics that eliminate the need to compensate for different levels of competition and support from teammates. Performance on screening tests such as the vertical jump, 10-yard sprint, or pro-agility shuttle run are used to help differentiate those athletes most likely to excel in a given sport from a larger cohort of skillful recruits [1]. These same performance measures can also be used to track an athlete’s response to training over short and long periods of time [2]. Lower extremity strength and power can heavily factor into overall athletic performance. For example, the results of performance tests involving jumping height and running speed are largely dependent on the individual’s lower extremity strength and power production capabilities [1, 3]. When taking into account Abstract Introduction. Triple hop for distance (THD) is an inexpensive test used clinically to evaluate lower extremity functional performance. Given known relationships between THD and lower extremity strength and power, THD could be used as a time efficient approach for assessing athleticism. Aim of Study. The aim of this study was to detect the extent to which THD of the dominant and non-dominant legs predict performance of vertical jump (VJ), pro-agility shuttle run, and 10-yard sprint in a large cohort of male and female collegiate athletes. Material and Methods. One hundred sixty athletes (80 men) performed VJ, 10-yard sprint, pro-agility shuttle run, and THD. Separate stepwise linear regression analyses were used to determine how THD of dominant and non-dominant legs predicted athletic performance of each test. Results. For male athletes, nondominant leg was the best and only predictor for VJ, pro-agility shuttle run, and 10-yard sprint, explaining 42.4%, 56.6%, and 46.9% of the variance, respectively. For female athletes, the dominant leg was the best and only predictor for VJ, pro-agility shuttle run, and 10-yard sprint, explaining 42.9%, 41.5%, and 27.0% of the variance, respectively. Conclusions. THD could serve as efficient tool to predict performance on athletic tasks including jumping and sprinting. Moreover, THD could guide subsequent training interventions aimed at improving athletes’ jumping and sprinting abilities.