Flexibility characteristics of elite female and male volleyball players

It is a common assumption that increased range of motion is related to high level performance, however it is difficult to provide conclusive evidence for this assumption due to the many variables contributing to skilled performance. The purpose of this study was to compare shoulder and hip flexibility to jumping height of members of the men's and women's United States Olympic Festival volleyball teams. Twenty-four men and 22 women were measured for standing vertical jump (SVJ) and approach vertical jump (AVJ), as well as range of shoulder extension (SHO) and hip flexion (HIP). A significant and positive correlation was revealed between AVJ and HIP for the men r = 0.42, p less than 0.03). For the women, significant and negative correlations resulted between SVJ and HIP (r = -0.54, p = 0.009) and between AVJ and HIP (r = -0.47, p = 0.03). Although a positive correlation between flexibility and AVJ observed for the men supported the assumption that greater flexibility is related to greater skilled performance, the opposite results occurred for the women. The negative correlations for the women indicate that the players with the greatest vertical jumps had the least hip flexibility. It was concluded that greater hip flexibility may benefit men more than women for jumping ability.