ARM AUGMENTATION OF VERTICAL JUMP PERFORMANCE IN YOUNG GIRLS AND ADULT FEMALES

Abstract

The development of vertical jumping ability is not fully understood with respect to the contribution that the arm action provides to performance. This study examined the role of the arm actions on the performance of countermovement vertical jumps. Two groups comprising ten adults females and ten six-year old girls. Ground reaction forces were obtained while subjects performed countermovement vertical jumps with and without arm actions. Jump performance was measured by determining the duration of the airborne phase. The results indicated that the arm action significantly improved performance in both adults and children and adults jumped significantly higher than children irrespective of whether arm action was used. It was concluded that children appear to be equally effective to adults in using arms to improve jumping performance.