TY - JOUR
T1 - Interlimb asymmetries in youth tennis players
T2 - Relationships with performance
AU - Madruga-Parera, Marc
AU - Bishop, Chris
AU - Fort-Vanmeerhaeghe, Azahara
AU - Beltran-Valls, Maria R.
AU - Skok, Oliver G.
AU - Romero-Rodríguez, Daniel
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2019 National Strength and Conditioning Association.
PY - 2020
Y1 - 2020
N2 - Change of direction speed (CODS) has been highlighted as a critical component of tennis. Interlimb asymmetries have been commonly studied in jump tests, but less attention given to the topic during CODS. The aim of this study was to quantify interlimb asymmetries in jumping and CODS (during traditional and isoinertial tests) and establish their relationship with measures of physical performance. Twenty-two elite youth tennis players (16.3 6 1.4 years) performed single-leg countermovement jump (SLCMJ), single-leg broad jump, and single-leg lateral jump, a double 180° turn CODS test, and shuffle lateral step and crossover step with an isoinertial resistance device. Paired-samples t-tests revealed significant differences between limbs for all tests (p, 0.05). Interlimb asymmetry scores ranged from 1.83 to 15.03%, and a 1-way repeated-measures analysis of variance showed significant differences between interlimb asymmetry scores across multiple tests (p, 0.05). Spearman’s rank order r correlations showed significant negative relationships between CODS asymmetry and SLCMJ performance on both limbs (r 5 20.50; p 5 0.02 and r 5 20.53; p 5 0.01) and CODS performance on both limbs (r 5 0.50; p 5 0.02 and r 5 0.63; p 5 0.002). These results show the test-specific nature of asymmetries in youth tennis athletes, with the SLCMJ presenting the greatest magnitude of asymmetry. Furthermore, interlimb differences during CODS were associated with reduced performance during jumping and CODS tests, suggesting the monitoring of asymmetries within this population may therefore be warranted.
AB - Change of direction speed (CODS) has been highlighted as a critical component of tennis. Interlimb asymmetries have been commonly studied in jump tests, but less attention given to the topic during CODS. The aim of this study was to quantify interlimb asymmetries in jumping and CODS (during traditional and isoinertial tests) and establish their relationship with measures of physical performance. Twenty-two elite youth tennis players (16.3 6 1.4 years) performed single-leg countermovement jump (SLCMJ), single-leg broad jump, and single-leg lateral jump, a double 180° turn CODS test, and shuffle lateral step and crossover step with an isoinertial resistance device. Paired-samples t-tests revealed significant differences between limbs for all tests (p, 0.05). Interlimb asymmetry scores ranged from 1.83 to 15.03%, and a 1-way repeated-measures analysis of variance showed significant differences between interlimb asymmetry scores across multiple tests (p, 0.05). Spearman’s rank order r correlations showed significant negative relationships between CODS asymmetry and SLCMJ performance on both limbs (r 5 20.50; p 5 0.02 and r 5 20.53; p 5 0.01) and CODS performance on both limbs (r 5 0.50; p 5 0.02 and r 5 0.63; p 5 0.002). These results show the test-specific nature of asymmetries in youth tennis athletes, with the SLCMJ presenting the greatest magnitude of asymmetry. Furthermore, interlimb differences during CODS were associated with reduced performance during jumping and CODS tests, suggesting the monitoring of asymmetries within this population may therefore be warranted.
KW - Asymmetry
KW - Change of direction speed
KW - Introduction
KW - Jumping
KW - Youth athletes
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85091807365&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1519/JSC.0000000000003152
DO - 10.1519/JSC.0000000000003152
M3 - Article
C2 - 31009431
AN - SCOPUS:85091807365
SN - 1064-8011
VL - 34
SP - 2815
EP - 2823
JO - Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research
JF - Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research
IS - 10
ER -