Is It Possible to Improve Collegiate Soccer Players’ Jump Ability? ―A Comparison of Soccer and Volleyball Players’ Jump Height, Arm Swing, and Body Crouch in Vertical and Header Jumps

Shigeki Matsuda, Yoshinori Nagasawa, Takayoshi Ishihara, Tomohiro Demura and Keisuke Komura

[Received March 1, 2014; Accepted December 19, 2014] 

  This study aims to clarify the differences between soccer and volleyball players in jump height and jump motion (arm swing and body crouch) in vertical and header jumps with a running start, and the relationships among the parameters. The participants were 35 male Japanese university soccer players and 37 male Japanese university volleyball players. The jump height and jump motion variables (extension angle of the shoulder joint just before the jump and extent of body flexion just before the jump) were significantly higher in volleyball players than those in soccer players in both types of jumps. The growth of jump height, which is a value that subtracts the jump height of the vertical jump from that of a header jump, was significantly higher for volleyball players than soccer players. The significant multiple correlation coefficients between the jump motion variables and jump height was found both in a vertical jump and in a header jump (vertical jump: r = 0.43, r2=0.19; header jump: r = 0.62, r2=0.38). In conclusion, volleyball players jump higher than soccer players in vertical and header jumps with a running start because volleyball players conduct a rational jump motion using both arm swing and body crouch. There is sufficient room to improve soccer players’ jump ability, and soccer players can benefit from improvement in jump motion (arm swing and body crouch).

Keywords: Soccer, Jump motion, Arm swing, Body crouch, Jump height

[Football Science Vol.12, 1-10, 2015]


Close