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PHASE-SPECIFIC COUNTERMOVEMENT VERTICAL JUMP PREDICTORS OF DRIVER CLUB HEAD SPEED IN COLLEGIATE GOLFERS

Abstract

Jeffrey Simpson1, Kyle Rank1, John Garner2. 1University of West Florida, Pensacola, FL. 2Troy University, Troy, AL.

BACKGROUND: Countermovement vertical jumps (CMVJ) are often used to predict club head speed (CHS) in golfers of varying skill. Relationships between some CMVJ metrics and CHS have been identified, however, metrics used to predict CHS capability from CMVJ tests rarely consider the temporal characteristics of the golf swing and could provide false-positives for CHS predictability. This study aimed to identify predictors of CHS from a CMVJ based on phase-specific temporal and force-time variables. METHODS: Division II male and female golfers (n=18; age: 20±1 y; height: 171.4±4.7 cm; mass: 69.7±17.5 kg) completed the study. Participants completed 10 swings on a FlightScope Mevo+ with their driver to determine CHS. On a separate day, 3 trials of a CMVJ were completed on a force platform. Vertical ground reaction force data from the force platform was used to identify the unloading, eccentric yielding, eccentric braking and propulsion phases of the CMVJ. Phase times and vertical impulse were computed for each of the respective CMVJ phases and entered into separate stepwise multiple regression models using backward elimination to identify predictors of driver CHS (pRESULTS: Average driver CHS from the sample was 47.16±5.32 m/s. Eccentric braking phase time (0.22 ±0.06 s) was the only significant temporal predictor of CHS with a strong linear relationship (p=0.020; r=0.541) and explained 29.3% of the variance in driver CHS. Similarly, eccentric braking vertical impulse (3.15±0.52 Ns/kg) was the only significant predictor of CHS with a strong linear relationship (p=0.008; r=0.600), which explained 36.0% of the variance in driver CHS. Temporal and force-time variables during the unloading, eccentric yielding and propulsion phases of the CMVJ were not significant predictors of driver CHS. CONCLUSION: The results from this study indicate that eccentric braking phase time and eccentric braking vertical impulse during a CMVJ are strong predictors of driver CHS in collegiate golfers. Practitioners using CMVJ tests should consider force-time metrics during the eccentric braking phase to reduce false-positives for predicting CHS capability in golfers.

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