Abstract
The objective of this investigation was to compare isokinetic strength,
countermovement jump and drop jump variables between high-contributors and
low-contributors within NCAA Division I Men’s and Women’s
lacrosse athletes. Men’s (N=36) and Women’s
(N=30) NCAA Division I lacrosse athletes completed strength testing of
the quadriceps and hamstring across three speeds
(60°·s−1,
180°·s−1,
300°·s−1), countermovement and drop
jumps. To determine the discriminative ability of select lower-limb strength and
power characteristics participants were categorized as high-contributors
(Males N=18, age=20.3±0.4 yrs,
height=183.9±5.5 cm,
mass=90.8±5.8 kg; Females N=15,
age=20.8±0.8 yrs,
height=169.3±6.7 cm,
mass=64.1±7.2 kg) or low-contributors (Males
N=18, age=19.5±0.2 yrs,
height=184.1±5.6 cm;
mass=87.9±8.1 kg; Females N=15,
age=19.7±0.2 yrs,
height=169.8±7.0 cm,
mass=62.9±7.7 kg ) based upon the number of
games the participants competed in during the regular season. Within the male
cohort, moderate significant (p<0.05) differences were observed between
high-contributors and low-contributors in isokinetic hamstring strength of the
left leg at 300°·s−1 (d=0.69) and
peak power in countermovement jump (d=0.68). Within the
women’s cohort a large (d=0.87) significant difference
(p<0.05) in isokinetic strength of the left hamstring was observed
between high-contributors and low-contributors at
60°·s−1. Hamstring strength and
lower-limb power are important strength measures for lacrosse performance and
should be prioritized in training prescription for lacrosse athletes.
Key words
countermovement jump - drop jump - female athlete - performance
