Georgios Zaggelidis¹, Savvas N. Lazaridis¹, Alexandros Malkogiorgos², Fotios Mavrovouniotis³

¹ Laboratory of Coaching and Sport Performance, Department of Physical Education and Sport Sciences, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki
² Laboratory of Physical Exercise and Leisure, Department of Physical Education and Sport Sciences, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki
³ Laboratory of Exercise and Physical Health, Department of Physical Education and Sport Sciences, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki

Abstract

Background and Study Aim: Judo is categorized among events which develop apart from technical aspects many physical abilities such as explosive strength, speed and co-ordination. One representative task which involves the above mentioned abilities when performed from any athlete is the vertical jump. Purpose of this paper is to answer the question: if there are differences between untrained young males and advanced level Greek judo athletes in jumping ability in four different vertical jumping tasks.

Material and Methods: Twenty male [(10 untrained/10 advanced ones), mean age: 19.4 ± 1.6 years/ 17.3 ± 1.2 years respectively] performed squat jumps, countermovement jumps and drop jumps from 20 and 40 cm height (DJ20 and DJ40, respectively). Kinetic data for further analysis were collected by a ground mounted 40 x 60 cm force plate.

Results: Advanced young judokas presented higher scores in all examined jumping tasks compared to untrained ones, revealed shorter duration of examined contact times of all tasks and as a result better utilisation of stretch-shortening cycle mechanism. Total neuromuscular activation that adopt judokas reveals a more mature and skill dependent strategy compared to untrained ones.

Conclusions: Vertical jump does not characterizes from a technical point of view a judo athlete but it seems that performance in vertical jumping tasks is affected by the participation and years habituation to ballistic and explosive strength training. Judo specific training in advanced-level judokas improves and induces specific neuromuscular alterations as well as performance in various jumping tasks.

Key words: judo, jump, martial arts, stretch-shortening cycle

AMA:
Zaggelidis G, Lazaridis S, Malkogiorgos A et al. Differences in vertical jumping performance between untrained males and advanced Greek judokas. ARCH BUDO. 2012;8(2)
APA:
Zaggelidis, G., Lazaridis, S.N., Malkogiorgos, A., & Mavrovouniotis, F. (2012). Differences in vertical jumping performance between untrained males and advanced Greek judokas. ARCH BUDO, 8(2)
Chicago:
Zaggelidis, Georgios, Lazaridis Savvas N., Malkogiorgos Alexandros, Mavrovouniotis Fotios. 2012. "Differences in vertical jumping performance between untrained males and advanced Greek judokas". ARCH BUDO 8 (2)
Harvard:
Zaggelidis, G., Lazaridis, S.N., Malkogiorgos, A., and Mavrovouniotis, F. (2012). Differences in vertical jumping performance between untrained males and advanced Greek judokas. ARCH BUDO, 8(2)
MLA:
Zaggelidis, Georgios et al. "Differences in vertical jumping performance between untrained males and advanced Greek judokas." ARCH BUDO, vol. 8, no. 2, 2012
Vancouver:
Zaggelidis G, Lazaridis SN, Malkogiorgos A et al. Differences in vertical jumping performance between untrained males and advanced Greek judokas. ARCH BUDO 2012; 8(2)