Date of Award

Spring 5-1-2004

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Department

Physical Education

First Advisor

Alfred Finch

Second Advisor

J. Patrick Babington

Third Advisor

Thomas Nesser

Abstract

This study compared the effects of a general warm-up, a general warm-up and sitting quietly, a general warm-up and static stretching, and a general warm-up and ballistic stretching protocols on vertical jump performance and leg power. Eleven National Collegiate Athletic Assoiciation (NCAA) Division 1-A female volleyball players served as subjects. The subjects performed four treatments prior to the three vertical jump trials, consisting of a general warm-up, a warm-up and sitting quietly, a warm-up and static stretch, and a warm-up and dynamic stretch. The subjects also performed a Sit and Reach test prior to and after each treatment to determine if there were any changes in flexibility. The following variables of vertical jump height, vertical propulsive force, and peak power were measured simultaneously with a Vertec and a Kistler piezoelectric force platform. The trial with the highest vertical jump height attained was used for data analysis. One-way ANOVA's with repeated measures were used to analyze each variable. A 4x2 ANOVA with repeated measures (Treatment x Time) was used to analyze the Sit and Reach iv data. No significant differences were found for the variables of vertical jump height, propulsive force, and peak power among the four treatment protocols. This may be attributed to several factors. First, the subjects were in the midst of their spring competitive season, where they were practicing, strength training (80 - 95% of 1 repetition-maximum), and conditioning during the study. Also, when it comes to warm up and stretching there is a large personal preference component and what feels good for one subject may not be sufficient for another. No significant differences were found when comparing the four treatment protocols to one another for increasing flexibility; however, significant differences were found between the pre and post-test Sit and Reach measures. The differences between the pre and post-test measures are mainly attributed to performing the Sit and Reach test itself with a slight contribution from the treatment protocols. It would appear that further research needs to be conducted upon this topic with a larger number of subjects, comparing male versus female subjects, and more control over confounding variables.

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