THE EFFECTS OF PLYOMETRIC TRAINING ON KNEE FLEXION ANGLES DURING JUMP LANDING IN POST-PUBESCENT FEMALES

H. Uhlenkott, K. Brusseau, J. Vonbargen, J. Savage Lewis-Clark State College, Lewiston, ID PURPOSE: to determine if a six-week plyometric training intervention would significantly decrease knee flexion angles while completing jump-landing tasks from a plyometric box. METHODS: Twenty post-pubescent adolescent females participated in pre- and post-testing, as well as the six-week (3 days/week) plyometric training intervention. Intervention training included plyometric drills such as depth jumps, lateral hops, single-leg hops, and power skips. Pre- and post-plyometric intervention testing consisted of a five-minute warm-up on a cycle ergometer, followed by three jump-landing tasks from a 63 cm in height plyometric box. Knee flexion measurements were analyzed using reflective joint markers located on the right fibular lateral malleolus, tibial lateral condyle and approximately 1.5 inches above the greater trochanter. Kinoveaäsoftware was utilized for identifying knee flexion angles for both pre-and post-testing. RESULTS: Preliminary data analysis, using a paired t-test, revealed a statistically non-significant difference in knee flexion angle (p= .367) following the plyometric training intervention. Mean values were calculated for both pre- (M = 87.33 degrees; SD = 14.21) and post- (M = 84.33 degrees; SD = 7.36) intervention training knee flexion angles. Final data analysis will be completed and published in the results section by January 2018. CONCLUSION: Based on preliminary data analysis. it can be concluded that there is not a significant difference between knee flexion angles before and after a six-week plyometric intervention, even though mean knee flexion angles did decrease. It must be acknowledged, however, only one third of data were analyzed to reach these results. Complete data analysis will be published in January 2018. Supported state of Idaho HERC Grant