Association Between Maturity Status, Landing Force, and Jump Performance in Adolescent Male Soccer Players

Area of Science:

• Sports Science
• Human Movement
• Adolescent Development

Background:

• Adolescent maturity status varies, making age an unreliable performance indicator.
• Understanding how maturity affects movement, specifically landing force and jump performance, is crucial but unclear.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare landing force and jump performance in adolescent male soccer players.
• To classify players by maturity status (pre-, circa-, and post-peak height velocity [PHV]) and age.
• To test if maturity status reveals clearer performance differences than age.

Main Methods:

• Cross-sectional study involving 45 male soccer players (mean age 13.5 years).
• Players grouped by maturity status (pre-, circa-, post-PHV) and age.
• Measured landing forces (PVGRF, time to PVGRF, loading rate) and jump performance (jump height, contact time, RSI, power) using a force plate.

Main Results:

• No significant differences in landing forces were found among maturity groups.
• Jump height was significantly greater in post-PHV players compared to pre-PHV.
• Reactive strength index (RSI) and power were significantly higher in post-PHV players than in pre- and circa-PHV groups.

Conclusions:

• Maturity status classification revealed significant differences in jump height, RSI, and power.
• Age classification only showed significant differences in jump height.
• Maturity status is a more sensitive classifier for performance differences in adolescent athletes than age alone.