This study examined the association between jumping performance, change of direction and sprinting ability in preadolescent gymnasts. Fifty, female `Gymnastics for All` gymnasts (age: 8.0 ± 0.7 years, training experience: 2.2 ± 0.8 years, height: 129.3± 6.6 cm, body mass: 28.1 ± 5.8 kg) performed one and two-leg counter movement jumps, drop jump, squat jump, standing long jump, 10 and 20 m sprints, and two change of direction tests: 10 m (5 + 5 m with a 180° turn) and 20 m (10 + 10 m with a 180° turn). Significant correlations were found between the examined variables, however multiple regression analyses showed that jumping performance accounted for a small amount of the variance of change of direction (18.4 to 27.1%) and sprinting ability tests (22.6 to 29.3%). Further research is needed to elucidate whether long-term training affects the association between jumping performance and various measures of change of direction and sprinting ability on male and female athletes of different ages and levels of performance.
© Copyright 2018 Science of Gymnastics Journal. Department of Gymnastics, Faculty of Sport, University of Ljubljana. All rights reserved.