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| ORIGINAL ARTICLE |
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| Year : 2022 | Volume
: 4
| Issue : 2 | Page : 141-145 |
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Analysis of ankle strength and its correlation with jump performance
Amrinder Singh, Ishneet Kaur, Monika Sharma, Shweta Shenoy, Jaspal Singh Sandhu
MYAS-GNDU Department of Sports Sciences and Medicine, Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, Punjab, India
| Date of Submission | 15-Mar-2022 |
| Date of Decision | 03-Jun-2022 |
| Date of Acceptance | 21-Jul-2022 |
| Date of Web Publication | 19-Jan-2023 |
Correspondence Address:
Dr. Amrinder Singh
MYAS-GNDU Department of Sports Sciences and Medicine, Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, Punjab
India
 Source of Support: None, Conflict of Interest: None
DOI: 10.4103/ijptr.ijptr_27_22
Context: Improved ankle joint muscular strength decreases the risk of ankle injury; thus, ankle joint muscular strength plays an important role in the prevention of ankle injuries.
Aims: To assess the relationship between the peak muscle strength of plantar flexors and dorsiflexors and power of single leg hop jump.
Settings and Design: The study design was a cross-sectional observational study. Athletes of university, state, and national levels aged 18–25 years were recruited from Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, Punjab for this study with mean ± standard deviation of age (20.08 ± 1.94 years), body weight (63.43 ± 10.23 kg), and height (170.67 ± 9.25 cm).
Methods and Materials: Isokinetic dynamometer (Biodex Medical System Inc., Shirley, NY, USA) was used to determine ankle concentric isokinetic strength. The isokinetic strength of plantarflexors and dorsiflexors at speeds of 30° and 120°/s was measured for both legs and afterward single-leg hop jump performance was measured on the Kinematic Measurement System.
Statistical analysis used: Pearson correlation coefficient was used to determine the relationship between isokinetic muscle strength and jump performance.
Results: The results showed a high correlation (0.6< | r |<0.8) between the strength of plantarflexors and power of single-leg hop jump and a moderate correlation (0.4< | r |<0.6) between the strength of dorsiflexors and power of single-leg hop jump.
Conclusions: The measurement of peak plantarflexors muscle strength and peak dorsiflexors muscle strength is useful in clinical practice to improve jump performance in athletes training for sports such as volleyball and basketball.
Keywords: Ankle strength, Isokinetic dynamometer (Biodex), Kinematic Measurement System, Single leg hop jump
How to cite this article:
Singh A, Kaur I, Sharma M, Shenoy S, Sandhu JS. Analysis of ankle strength and its correlation with jump performance. Indian J Phys Ther Res 2022;4:141-5 |
How to cite this URL:
Singh A, Kaur I, Sharma M, Shenoy S, Sandhu JS. Analysis of ankle strength and its correlation with jump performance. Indian J Phys Ther Res [serial online] 2022 [cited 2023 Jun 6];4:141-5. Available from: https://www.ijptr.org/text.asp?2022/4/2/141/368054 |
| Introduction | |  |
Jumping is an essential component of several sports, including basketball, volleyball,[1] and necessary in many sports. Improved ankle joint muscular strength decreases the risk of ankle injury and plays an important role in the prevention of ankle injuries.[2] Many studies have been conducted on the isokinetic strength of knee extensors and range of motion of ankle dorsiflexion;[3],[4] however, there is the absolute lack of studies that have been conducted on athletic population to correlate the isokinetic strength of plantarflexors and dorsiflexors on jump performance; therefore, the purpose was to correlate the significant effect of isokinetic strength of ankle dorsiflexors and plantarflexors on jump performance.
| Subjects and Methods | | |
For the examination of the hypothesis of the study, the experimental procedure was conducted in two steps at separate testing sessions. At first, the isokinetic strength of plantarflexors and dorsiflexors at speeds of 30° and 120°/s was measured for both legs and afterward single-leg hop jump performance was measured on the Kinematic Measurement System. Twenty-seven athletes of university, state, and national levels aged 18 to 25 years were recruited from Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, Punjab for this study mean ± standard deviation (SD) of age (20.08 ± 1.94 years), body weight (63.43 ± 10.23 kg), and height (170.67 ± 9.25cm) and were informed about the testing procedures, and provided written consent form about the research and were free of injuries, especially in the ankle joints, feet, and metatarsophalangeal joint. This research project was approved by the Institutional Ethical Committee of Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar. Data collection was conducted from September 2021 to December 2021 at MYAS-GNDU Department of Sports Sciences and Medicine.
Experimental procedure
Isokinetic dynamometer (Biodex Medical System Inc., Shirley, NY, USA) was used to determine ankle concentric isokinetic strength. Dorsiflexion and plantarflexion isokinetic concentric strength was measured in both dominant and nondominant ankles at speeds of 30°/s and 120°/s. The isokinetic dynamometer was calibrated and positioned before each test according to the standard guidelines. The participants were asked to warm up for 5 − 10 min which included proper stretching of muscles to prevent any sort of muscular discomfort or injury afterward. Five sub-maximal warm-up repetitions were completed before testing at each velocity. A 1-min rest was given between the warmup and actual test sequence. Another 2-min rest was given between velocity changes.[5] Consistent verbal encouragement for the maximal effort was given to each subject throughout the test procedure. Five repetitions were performed at a speed of 30°/s and 5 repetitions were performed at 120°/s, and afterward, single-leg hop jump performance was measured on the Kinematic Measurement System, as shown in [Figure 1] and [Figure 2]. The distance for the hop jump was equal to the apparent leg length of the individual from the force plate[6] and asked to hop forward on the force plate with both the hands on the hips, first on the dominant leg and then on the nondominant leg, as shown in [Figure 3] and [Figure 4]. Trials were discarded and repeated if the participant touched down with the opposite foot. The best attempt of the three trials of power was taken for the further analysis. | Figure 1: Demonstrates peak torque measurement of subject using Isokinetic dynamometer – (Biodex)
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| Results | | |
Outcomes were analyzed for a normal distribution using the Kolmogorov–Smirnov test. Pearson correlation coefficient was used to determine the relationship between isokinetic muscle strength and jump performance. Statistical analysis was performed using IBM Corp. Released 2019. IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows, Version 26.0. Armonk, NY: IBM Corp. The mean and SDs of isokinetic strength and power of athletes are presented in [Table 1] and [Table 2]. Statistical significance was defined at the 5% (P ≤0.05) level. The correlation coefficient was classified as follows: 0 = no correlation, 0< r |< 0.2 = very weak correlation, 0.2<| r |< 0.4 = weak correlation, 0.4< | r |<0.6 = medium correlation, 0.6< | r||<0.8 = strong correlation, 0.8<| r |<0.1 = very strong correlation, and 1 = perfect correlation.[7] | Table 1: The results of the measurements of the isokinetic strength of the plantarflexors and dorsiflexors
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Correlation analysis
For the single-leg hop jump and isokinetic strength of plantarflexors and dorsiflexors, peak torque and power values were used for the correlation analysis. Results showed the significant correlation between the isokinetic strength of dorsiflexion (r = 0.56 at speed 30°/s, r = 0.73 at speed 120°/s) and plantarflexion (r = 0.83 at speed 30°/s, r = 0.85 at speed 120°/s) at speed of 30°/s, 120°/s and power of jump of dominant ankle, as shown in [Graph 1], [Graph 2], and [Table 3]. In addition, there was a significant correlation between the isokinetic strength of dorsiflexion (r = 0.41 at speed 30°/s, r = 0.32 at speed 120°/s) and plantarflexion (r = 0.61 at speed 30°/s, r = 0.56 at speed 120°/s) at speed of 30°/s, 120°/s and power of jump of non-dominant ankle, as shown in [Graph 3] and [Graph 4].
 | Table 3: Comparison between correlation of dominant and nondominant side isokinetic strength of ankle
Click here to view |
Results of the single-leg hop jump showed a significant correlation with the isokinetic muscle strength of plantarflexion and dorsiflexion at both 30° and 120°/s angular velocities. Among these, the single-leg hop jump showed the highest Pearson correlation coefficient with isokinetic strength of the plantarflexion at both 30° and 120°/s angular velocities. However, the single-leg hop jump showed the moderate Pearson correlation coefficient with isokinetic strength of the dorsiflexion at both 30° and 120°/s angular velocities.
| Discussion | | |
The aim of the current study was to determine the relationship between the isokinetic strength of dorsiflexors, plantarflexors, and jump performance. Our hypothesis was that jump performance would be positively associated with the isokinetic strength of the plantarflexion and the dorsiflexion since the muscles of this joint have a critical contribution to the total work performed during jumps.
The results showed a high correlation between the strength of plantarflexors and power of single-leg hop jump and the moderate correlation between strength of dorsiflexors and power of single-leg hop jump. The strength of plantarflexors and dorsiflexors are the main contributors to single-leg hop jump performance of athletes. Peak plantarflexors muscle strength and peak dorsiflexors muscle strength are the main contributors to single-leg hop jump performance of athletes.
Among the dominant and nondominant sides, the dominant side jump power was highly positively correlated with the peak torque of isokinetic strength of the plantarflexion as compared to the nondominant side ankle. Among the speeds of the isokinetic strength of plantarflexion, 120°/s was highly positively correlated with the power of the jump as compared to the 30°/s speed of the plantarflexion.
Jump and isokinetic strength testing are widely utilized in therapeutic rehabilitation programs and used to assess functional capacities.[8] Several studies have found a positive relationship between plantarflexion strength and jump power.[3],[9] Plantarflexor strength and jump performance were found to have positive associations. Multi-segment force transmission improves jump performance by readily generating a large force on the ground.[9] The net muscle moment produced by the hip extensors, knee extensors, ankle plantar flexors, and toe flexors explains the force acting on the ground during a jump. Accelerating a body upward during a jump requires the rapid generation of a large force acting upon the ground before the take-off.[9],[10]
Previous research indicates that increased plantarflexion during initial contact was associated with reduced peak ground reaction force and ground reaction force loading rate when they observed landings with varied initial contact ankle plantarflexion angles. This is because eccentric contraction of the gastrocnemius and soleus muscles consumes more energy.[11] As a result, ankle plantar flexor strength was critical in enhancing jump performance. The relationship between plantarflexion and jump performance could imply that the neuromuscular speed of the ankle joint is relevant for both tasks.[12]
The participant needs to perform fast explosive isometric contractions from a relaxed condition in a nonweight bearing position in the isometric task. Furthermore, in drop jump execution, energy conservation during the eccentric phase results in increased propulsive forces (stretch-shortening cycle),[13] which is not the case in the isometric plantarflexion task. Furthermore, due to the flexed knee posture in the isometric exercise, the gastrocnemius contribution to plantarflexion is reduced,[8] which could imply that RFD (rate of force development) in drop jump performance is mostly a function of slow-twitch soleus muscle.[14] The study's findings imply that ankle neuromuscular speed is relevant in both isometric and dynamic circumstances.[12]
Previous study findings revealed that the range of motion was increased after all warm-ups due to an improvement intolerance, but only an active warm-up with aerobic exercise improved muscle strength. Ankle plantarflexion muscle strength is vital for jump performance and the avoidance of sports injuries such as Achilles tendon injury.[15],[16] As a result, cardiovascular exercise is advised as a warm-up.[17]
Some limitations must be taken into account when evaluating the results of this study. First and foremost, the study's sample size was small, and as we all know, various sports athletes wear different shoes, which may alter the conclusion of the jump performance.
| Conclusion | | |
The plantarflexor isokinetic strength was correlated with the single-leg hop jump performance, which suggests that it was an important parameter for enhancing jump performance among athletes. Therefore, insufficient strength of plantarflexors may alter the jump performance. Hence, this study will instruct the coaches, instructors, and athletes of sports to improve their strength which will prevent ankle injuries among the athletes.
Acknowledgment
I would like to express my heartful reagrds to Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, Government of India for providing funding for conducting this study.
Financial support and sponsorship
Nil.
Conflicts of interest
There are no conflicts of interest.
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[Figure 1], [Figure 2], [Figure 3], [Figure 4]
[Table 1], [Table 2], [Table 3]
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