Evolution and comparison of jump capacity in national female artistic and rhythmic gymnastics teams during the 2007 World Championship training

Abstract

Jump capacity has been measured for talent selection and control training with Artistic (WAG) and Rhythmic gymnasts (RG) (Marina y Rodríguez, 1993; Ferro y cols., 1999; Bradshaw y Le Rossignol, 2004, Pérez-Gómez y cols., 2006). It was measured at two different moments of the season: Specific Preparation Period (SPP) and Competition Period (CP) with a force plate (Kistler Quattro Jump) at 500 Hz. Gymnasts execute Squat Jump (SJ) and Counter Movement Jump (CMJ) tests (Bosco, 1999). The purpose of this study was to check the evolution of this capacity and to compare key jump capacity variables between artistic and rhythmic gymnasts. Only three significant differences were founded between groups: CMJ Fmax at SPP (p<0.05 *); CMJ Fmax at CP (p<0.01 **) and SJ Vmax at CP (p<0.05 *). Comparison between groups didn’t show relevant differences. It was show an increase of most important variables (Height and Power) from SJ and CMJ tests between the two measured moments. The differences between these results were no significant but this increase in notable if we put it in relation with the difficulty of increase this capacity with high level gymnasts (WAG: SJ 7.70±6.43%; CMJ 2.54±6.77%; RG: 6.38±6.97%; CMJ: 2.65±5.69%). These results showed that adequate of the preparation planning for the World Championship.