Correlations between Lower Body Plyometrics and Sprint Speed

Authors

Andrew BurnettFollow
Casi Helbig, Texas Lutheran UniversityFollow

Abstract

Speed and power are attributes that every athlete strives to improve. PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to determine which of four plyometric tests correlated to sprint speed. METHODS: The subjects were 37 Texas Lutheran University baseball players. Participants performed a vertical jump, broad jump, triple broad jump, and 4-jump vertical test along with a thirty-yard sprint. Before each test, the subjects were put through the same dynamic warmup that was created by the experimenter. A vertical jump mat was used to measure both the vertical jump and the four jump vertical test. The vertical jump test consisted of the subjects jumping as high as possible for one jump, while the 4- jump vertical test consisted of the subjects jumping as high as possible for four consecutive jumps. A broad jump mat was used to record the distance of the subject's broad jump, which consisted of the subjects jumping as far along the ground as possible. The triple broad jump test consisted of the subjects performing three consecutive broad jumps as far as possible, and the distance was measured with a tape measure. The subject’s sprint speed was measured using a stopwatch and recording the time it took them to sprint thirty yards. RESULTS: The mean of the sprint times was 4.07 seconds with a standard deviation of .19. The mean of the triple broad jump was 299.3 inches with a standard deviation of 19.64. The mean of the vertical jump was 27.63 inches with a standard deviation of 3.58. The mean of the broad jump was 97.36 inches with a standard deviation of 7.07. The mean of the 4-jump vertical test was 2.1 with a standard deviation of .45. A Pearson’s r correlation was conducted for each of the plyometric tests with sprint times. Only triple broad jump and vertical jump had a strong correlation to sprint times whereas broad jump and 4-jump vertical had moderate. The highest correlation was between triple broad jump and sprint times at -.802. The correlation for the vertical jump and sprint times was -.783. The correlation for the broad jump and sprint times was -.728. The correlation for the 4-jump vertical test and sprint times was -.621. CONCLUSION: This study shows that training and improving the triple broad jump, along with other plyometrics, could help improve sprint times.

Recommended Citation

Burnett, Andrew and Helbig, Casi (2026) "Correlations between Lower Body Plyometrics and Sprint Speed," International Journal of Exercise Science: Conference Proceedings: Vol. 2: Iss. 18, Article 197.
Available at: https://digitalcommons.wku.edu/ijesab/vol2/iss18/197