Association Between Maturity Status, Landing Force, and Jump Performance in Adolescent Male Soccer Players.
Takahiro Namiki, Mina Samukawa, Eri Takagi and 8 others
PMID 40756796WHAT IT FOUND
Landing forces did not differ by maturity status in adolescent male soccer players, but jump performance was significantly higher in post-PHV athletes.
Classification by maturity offset detected performance differences that chronological age missed.
Key findings
01Peak vertical ground reaction force, time to peak force, and loading rate during landing showed no significant differences among pre-PHV, circa-PHV, and post-PHV groups.
02Jump height, reactive strength index, and power were significantly higher in the post-PHV group compared to pre-PHV and circa-PHV groups.
03Classifying players by maturity offset revealed significant differences in jump performance metrics that chronological age classification did not detect.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTs
Read the rest of this summary
You get three full summaries a month, free, and we do not ask for a card. Search, the TL;DRs and your library stay unlimited either way.
What it does not show
The study used a cross-sectional design, so it cannot track individual changes in performance as players mature over time. The post-PHV group was small (n = 8), which may affect the stability of the results for this specific subgroup. The maturity offset equation was developed using European data, but the study was conducted with Japanese adolescents, who may reach peak height velocity earlier, potentially affecting the accuracy of the classification. Kinematic data (movement patterns) were not collected, so the study cannot explain why landing forces did not differ despite changes in maturity.
Declared interests
No conflicts of interest or funding sources are explicitly declared in the provided text.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume that landing forces increase during the peak height velocity phase. This study found no significant difference in landing forces across maturity groups, contradicting some previous single-leg studies. The lack of difference may be due to the double-leg nature of the Drop Vertical Jump used here.