Comparison of Female Collegiate Athletes and College Age Cohort in Tuck Jump Assessment

Smith, CA, Olson, BK, Olson, LA, Chimera, NJ, and Warren, M. Comparison of female collegiate athletes and college age cohort in tuck jump assessment. J Strength Cond Res 31(4): 1048-1054, 2017 - The tuck jump assessment (TJA) is a plyometric jumping assessment with 10 flaw criteria against which technique is assessed over a 10-second interval. The TJA has been reported as a tool for identifying neuromuscular deficits that increase risk for anterior cruciate ligament injury, but group specific data on female TJA scores are limited. No cut point has been developed for groups with different activity levels or participation in athletics. This study investigated the association between TJA score and athletic participation in college-aged females. One hundred twenty-one females (53 collegiate athletes and 68 college students) completed the TJA. TJA score was the sum of flaws for the 10 criteria observed, and the number of jumps was recorded. Poisson regression was used to assess the association between TJA score and number of jumps. The association between each of the 10 flaws between groups was assessed with the chi-square test. No significant association was found between groups for TJA score (mean ± SD: 4.66 ± 1.07 athletes; 5.45 ± 1.05 college cohort; p = 0.06; β = 0.82). Athletes jumped significantly more times (12.23 ± 1.04 athletes; 9.35 ± 1.04 college cohort). Athletes had a lower proportion of 2 flaws: "thighs do not reach parallel" and "pause between jumps." Lower statistical power may limit interpretation of the remaining flaws. The lack of control of the number of jumps may impact TJA score. To improve the TJA usefulness on the field and clinic, the protocol may need to standardize the number of jumps.