Abstract
The majority of explosive actions during the Judo fight occur when the athlete is trying to overcome his/her adversary via rapid execution(s) of(isolated or chained) technical manoeuvres. The aim of this study was to compare the results of two plyometric muscular action tests (i.e., Squat Jump– SJ, and Countermovement Jump – CMJ) between judo- and non-judo- athletes.
The investigation involved a cross-sectional examination of 102 subjects (age, 21.9 ± 3.4 years) divided into 3 performance groups: a) Senior top elite judo athletes (n=50), b) Junior elite judo athletes (n=26) and c) Adult non-judo athletes(n=26). Thirteen biomechanical variables (including jump height, velocity, power, force in SJ and CMJ; time to peak force, to peak power and between peaks) were examined. The dataset was analysed using a Univariate analysis of variance.
No significant differences in anthropometric variables were observed between groups. However, significant differences were observed in: a) jump height and peak velocity (SJ, CMJ), b) peak power and peak force(SJ), and c) peak eccentric force, peak eccentric power and peak concentric power (CMJ). We conclude that: a) the center of mass displacement achieved in the CMJ is higher than in the SJ; b) the optimisation of coordination between the eccentric and concentric phases of muscle action is not the primary determinant of performance of Judo athletes; and c) the main pre-requisite for success in elite judo athletes is superior peak eccentric power.