Effect of playing time on countermovement jump performance over a competitive season in female collegiate athletes

Abstract

Objectives: This investigation examined if the amount of playing time effected countermovement jump performance over the course of a competitive collegiate soccer season. Methods: 22 NCAA Division I female soccer athletes participated in this investigation. Participants were tested at three points throughout the competitive season: pre, mid, and post. At each testing session, participants completed 3 CMJ tri als. All testing was performed using a portable force platform with ground reaction forces sampled at 1000Hz. Participants were put in one of two groups based on playing above or below 50 percent of the available A mixed-methods repeated-measures ANOVA was used to determine if significant differences were present across the season. Results: The percentage of minutes played during the season did not appear to have an impact on CMJ performance as no interactions were found. Propulsive mean force did significantly increase from pre to mid (p = 0.04) and post testing (p = 0.01). Conclusions: CMJ performance did not change in the high or low minute groups over the course of a competitive season. As individuals respond to training loads differently examining individual change rather than group change could provide better insight into the response to the training loads over a season.