Summary: A recent study examined the physical attributes of NCAA basketball people, revealing significant variations in body content, strength, and strength across jobs. Linemen displayed greater body size, while skilled athletes displayed greater pressure transfer efficiency during jumps.
No significant variations in groups ‘ flexibility or peak pressure were found despite these variations. These findings highlight the potential for customized training programs to boost player performance in response to position-specific requirements.
Important Information:
- Position-Specific Variations: Linemen had higher body size, while ability players excelled in energy efficiency during jumps.
- Teaching Implications: Results highlight the need for customized treatments targeting position-specific traits.
- Coming Research: Strategies include expanding to Division I people and other activities for broader programs.
Origin: University of Kansas
Even seasoned soccer players will be able to point out that different body types are available depending on the team’s position. Players are great with a lot of system size, and wide devices are smaller and faster, for instance.
However, a recent study from the University of Kansas is setting the stage for further research to determine whether there are more subtle variations in strength and conditioning characteristics by placement that are not immediately apparent to the skilled football eye.
If mentors and trainers had draw conclusions about linebackers’ higher upper body strength while tight ends ‘ high levels of flexibility or other comparable steps, this could lead to position-specific training and placement of players in their most successful positions.
Quincy Johnson, associate professor of heath, game &, exercise science, led a study that used state-of-the-art technology to evaluate key performance indicators within a group of college football players that found substantial differences in body type, muscular strength and power, though never flexibility, by position type.
Offensive and defensive linemen, “big skill” positions such as linebackers and tight ends and skill players such as quarterbacks, wide receivers and safeties were the focus of the study.
Researchers used 16 starters from an NCAA Division II football team to take a series of tests. All of the participants had regularly participated in strength and conditioning training and were free of musculoskeletal injuries.
Johnson said,” Even within the same sport, you have different body types and different needs for the position they play.”
” Speed, mobility, flexibility all play a part in your ability to play football. Power and strength are also very important. We discovered that muscular power and strength were significantly different between position groups. However, we didn’t find a difference in flexibility”.
Players in the sample were divided into offensive and defensive groups, and body composition measures included height, body mass, and lean body mass. Then, further key performance indicators like movement capacity, muscular strength and power were measured.
Through isometric mid-thigh pulls, power through jumping exercises, and other comparable measurements, including markerless motion capture and force plates, technology was used to measure movement capacity during squats, strength through isometric mid-thigh pulls, and other comparable measures.
As hypothesized, the researchers found significant differences in body composition, with linemen having more body mass than other big skill players. And because the latter positions exhibit various athleticism characteristics between the positions, their jumps increased and their force were more effectively transferred during jumps.
Movement capacity, however, did not prove to have significant differences by position.
The researchers noted that specific measures of muscular strength and power varied between position groups, but that peak force measurements did not. They continued,” That finding emphasizes the importance of developing absolute strength.”
Johnson, a former strength and conditioning coach and football player, described the study as a call to action.
It could help set the stage for research that can maximize desired characteristics in the name of long-term improvement of performance by showing that different body compositions, movement capacities, and types of strength and power are scientifically measurable.
Further investigation is required to figure out how best to best develop the required characteristics for each position.
Written by Johnson, Yang Yang, Dimitrije Cabarkapa and Andrew Fry of KU, Shane Stock, Dalton Gleason, Kazuma Akehi, Dayton Sealey and Clay Frels of the University of Nebraska-Kearney, and Douglas Smith of Oklahoma State University, the study was published in , The Journal of Functional Morphology and Kinesiology.
Johnson said,” I hope to help answer questions coaches have and hopefully lead the field in some new directions.
” The big question is,’ Can we assess abilities in this group of athletes?’ Once we have this information, can we analyze it in a way that over time improves performance”?
When Johnson reached the collegiate level, Johnson had concerns about training camp, including why the first few and final days of the program seemed to be the most laborious and physically demanding. He began playing football at age 5 in his native Oklahoma.
He witnessed teammates who either quit the sport for various reasons, despite never suffering serious injuries. By bringing a sport science approach to such questions, he hopes to help athletes, coaches, trainers and others use data to answer those and others about how to maximize performance.
Such information might be used to develop training plans specifically designed to enable defensive backs to reach their full potential or to promote linemen’s persistence on the field or avoid injuries, for instance.
Future research will examine data from Division I football players as well as those from other sports.
The authors write that the findings can also help those beyond athletes and coaches, including strength and conditioning professionals, sport scientists, sports medicine professionals, nutritionists and registered dietitians.
Johnson’s research is part of the work by the , Jayhawk Athletic Performance Laboratory, a member of the Wu Tsai Human Performance Alliance. The alliance aims to transform and enhance human health by educating on peak performance.
While the study of disease accounts for the majority of human health knowledge, research at KU and partners focuses on peak athletic performance to promote optimal health and well-being.
About this research in neuroscience
Author: Mike Krings
Source: University of Kansas
Contact: Mike Krings – University of Kansas
Image: The image is credited to Neuroscience News
Original Research: Open access.
An exploratory study by Quincy Johnson and colleagues entitled” An exploratory study of the key performance indicators for college-level American football players.” Journal of Functional Morphology and Kinesiology
Abstract
An exploratory study of the key performance indicators for college-level American football players
Objectives: This study aimed to investigate differences in key performance indicators across position groups and ( a ) to profile body composition and physical fitness characteristics of collegiate American football starters. These indicators included select measures of body composition, joint kinematics, as well as muscular strength and power.
Results: The findings of this study suggest that significant differences in body composition ( p , = 0.004 ), muscular strength ( p , = 0.01 ), and muscular power ( p , = 0.03 ) exist between position groups. However, no significant differences were observed in joint kinematics as assessed by the bilateral squat test ( p , >, 0.05 ).
Conclusions: Therefore, key findings from this study suggest that although significant differences in body composition, muscular strength, and muscular power exist, an emphasis should be placed on the regular assessment, development, and maintenance of optimal joint kinematics within collegiate American football populations as this appears to be a shared key performance indicator among starters.
