BILATERAL COUNTERMOVEMENTJUMP SQUAT JUMP ECCENTRIC UTILIZATION RATIO AND DROP JUMP PERFORMANCE OF MALE HANDBALL PLAYERS: AN OVERVIEW OF POSITIONAL DIFFERENCE

Abstract

Background: Handball (HB) is fast intermittent body contact sports demands all domains of
fitness. Understanding the fitness level of a handball player can determine their capability that
assist coaches and strength and conditioning expert in designing appropriate training
programme. Studying the vertical jumping ability difference among university (Annamalai
University & Bharathidasan University) male handball (HB) players with respect to position
of playing (playing position) is required. Therefore, the aim was to compare bilateral
countermovement jump (CMJ), squat jump (SJ), eccentric utilization ratio (EUR), and drop
jump (DJ) performance of university male handball (HB) players with reference to position of
playing and secondary aim was to compute the jump height variations between CMJ and SJ
performance of university male HB players with reference to specific game positions.
Methods: Thirty-nine (39) university male handball players were identified and recruited as
subjects by random sampling. These selected subjects were divided into four groups in relation
to playing position as backcourt players (BC), wing players (W), pivot players (P), and goal
keeper (GK). Bilateral CMJ, SJ and DJ data were collected using OPTOJUMP (Microgate S.r.l,
Bolzano, Italy).
Results: ANOVA showed that CMJ – flight time (FT) & jump height (JH), SJ - FT & JH, DJ -
FT, JH, & reactive strength index (RSI) displayed a significant difference among handball
players. BC and W players found to be better in CMJ, SJ, and DJ but P players found inferior
to others. The paired t test highlighted significant difference between CMJ and SJ jump height
in BC, W, P, GK and total (T) players.
Conclusion: The playing position differences in jumping ability (CMJ, SJ, DJ) is witnessed
among university male handball players. The secondary aim proves the eccentric action in CMJ
benefited to jump higher than SJ in handball players. These findings clearly project the
importance of designing handball specific training goals for handball players with position wise
to enhance their vertical jump performance and prevent injury.