F1000Research F1000Research 2046-1402 F1000 Research Limited London, UK 10.12688/f1000research.131225.1 Research Article Articles Vertical jump performance and the relationship with sprint speed at 20 m and 50 m in professional soccer players.

[version 1; peer review: 2 approved with reservations]

 Wheeler Botero Carlos Conceptualization Investigation Methodology Writing – Review & Editing 1 Patiño Palma Brayan Esneider Conceptualization Data Curation Formal Analysis Investigation Methodology Project Administration Writing – Original Draft Preparation Writing – Review & Editing https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6932-0980 a 2 Ramos Parrací Carlos Investigation Methodology Writing – Original Draft Preparation Writing – Review & Editing 3 Gómez Rodas Alejandro Conceptualization Data Curation Formal Analysis Funding Acquisition Methodology Project Administration Writing – Review & Editing https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9355-8630 2 4 Afanador Restrepo Diego Fernando Data Curation Formal Analysis Investigation Methodology Writing – Review & Editing 2 Vidarte Claros José Armando Conceptualization Investigation Methodology Project Administration Writing – Original Draft Preparation Writing – Review & Editing https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7982-3848 5 Wheeler Sport Tech, Tampa, USA Fundación Universitaria del Área Andina, Bogotá, Bogota, Colombia Universidad del Tolima, Ibagué, Colombia Universidad Tecnológica de Pereira, Pereira, Colombia Universidad Autónoma de Manizales, Manizales, Colombia bpatino3@areandina.edu.co

Competing interests: The first named author is affiliated with Wheeler Sports Tech, a commercial company which provides sports analysis and technology services.

 13 6 2023 2023 12 663 21 2 2023 Copyright: © 2023 Wheeler Botero C et al. 2023 This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Licence, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Background: Jumping and sprinting are essential skills for several sports, especially for soccer, since they allow to determine neuromuscular function and maximum power of the lower extremities in athletes. This study aimed to establish the relationship between vertical jump performance and sprint speed at 20 m and 50 m in professional soccer players.

Methods: This study took place from June 2020 to November 2021 with participants from the U20 category of the Colombian professional team Fortaleza CEIF, and the U18 category of the Brazilian professional team Boston City. The vertical jump was assessed with the countermovement jump (CMJ), squat jump (SJ), and rebound jump (RJ) variants using the WheelerJump jump sensor while the sprint was measured using the Winlaborat horizontal encoder.

Results: 200 participants from the selected teams were included in this study. Almost perfect correlations (p < 0,05 – r: 0.97) and excellent coefficients of determination (R 2: 0.95 – 0.93) were observed between the reactive force index with the mean height of the different jump protocols and the 50-meter sprint speed, indicating that the higher the altitude and/or the higher the reactive force index, the higher the 50-meter sprint speed. The same behavior was found with the 20-meter race, but the correlation levels (p <0,05, r: 0.63-0.62) and the determination coefficients were lower (0.40).

Conclusions: The results of this study suggest that, in professional soccer players, long sprint performance like 50 m is strongly correlated and could be accuracy explained by the average height reached in SJ, CMJ, and RJ and by the ability to perform repeated jumps using short contact times, thus increasing the ground reaction forces, which translates into a similar behavior during successive contacts of the player's feet against the ground during the race.

 Muscle Strength Jogging Sport psychology Plyometric exercise. The author(s) declared that no grants were involved in supporting this work. Introduction

Sprinting is one of the most used skills in professional soccer; Faude et al. (2012), described that short distance sprinting, with or without the ball is one of the most frequent actions in goal situations; for this reason, power and speed skills are important in decisive moments in professional soccer. Therefore, sprinting should be included in the assessment and training of soccer players. Sprinting is generally performed at distances between 20 m and 50 m and is performed up to 60 times per match, which can change according to the competitive level and playing position ( Barnes et al., 2014; Varley and Aughey, 2013).

The ability to quickly generate and apply force has a dominant role in sprint performance ( Slawinski et al., 2017). Different authors reported strong relationships between different neuromuscular capacities and sprint performance in different sports ( Cronin and Hansen, 2005; Harris et al., 2008; Loturco et al., 2019). Moreover, different experimental studies described those improvements in muscular power resulted in significant improvements in speed, which may suggest a causal relationship between these variables ( Loturco et al., 2015, 2018). In this sense, Morin et al. (2011) proposed that the technical capacity to apply force against the ground has more relevance for sprinting performance than for jumping performance itself ( Loturco et al., 2015).

Jumping is commonly used to assess muscular power in athletes ( Bishop et al., 2021; Carling et al., 2009; Read et al., 2016; Wake et al., 2013), especially in soccer. Different technological devices helped evaluate this capacity and its relationship with sports performance, in the case of soccer, mainly the sprint ( Tejada and Suarez, 2013).

In soccer and several sports, sprinting and jumping are fundamental skills. The former is a cyclic motor task that relies on the mechanical capabilities of the neuromuscular system ( Samozino et al., 2016); The second is a form of ballistic pushing movement in which the mechanical function of the neuromuscular system of the lower extremities depends on the maximal power capabilities and each athlete’s optimal force-velocity (F-v) profile ( Jiménez-Reyes et al., 2017). Therefore, running and jumping can represent the ability of the athletes' neuromuscular system to produce high levels of strength, which can be transmitted to the ground and maintained through high contraction velocities ( Morin and Samozino, 2016).

Previous evidence suggest that the kinematic and kinetic parameters of the runners’ center of mass (CM) during sprinting and jumping reflects a relationship between the F-v profile and the power-velocity profile (P-v) of both motor tasks ( Jiménez-Reyes et al., 2018). Based on the differences in the force vector between sprinting (horizontal) and jumping (vertical), this study aimed to determine the relationship between vertical jumping performance and sprinting speed at 20 m and 50 m in soccer players from two professional teams. We hypothesized a moderate and/or strong relationship between the study variables.

 Methods Ethical statement

The research was carried out in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki, Resolution 008430 of 1993 of the Ministry of Health and Social Protection of Colombia and Resolution 196 of October 10, 1996 of the National Health Council of Brazil and was approved by the committee of ethics of the Santiago de Cali University (CEB-USC-08). Each participant accepted and signed the informed consent, in addition to the informed assent for minors, through which they expressed their voluntary desire to be part of the research project.

 Study design

This study was cross-sectional with a quantitative approach and a correlational scope. The sample consisted of 200 soccer players, of which 100 were from the under 20 years old (U20) category of the Colombian professional team Fortaleza CEIF, and another 100 were from the under 18 years old (U18) category of the Brazilian professional team Boston City.

Football players under the age of 20 were recruited who willingly wanted to participate in this research. Therefore, the sample was constituted at convenience. The players studied had more than six years of sports history, of which the last ones were specifically in soccer. They did not present any medical condition that could prevent them from participating in the testing sessions.

 Data collection

Data collection started in June 2020 and ended in November 2021. Before the testing session, the participants performed a standardized warm-up of 20 minutes. The warm-up consisted of an aerobic activity with an intensity of 75% of the maximum heart rate measured by heart rate monitor (Polar Monitor, H10); then, the participants executed a neuromuscular activation through short and explosive movements of high intensity (sprint, multi jumps, changes of rhythm). The participants performed five repetitions of sprint in 5m with one minute rest, five repetitions of zigzag running in 10m, with the same rest time, and four series of five vertical jumps with knee elevation with one minute rest between each series, based on the protocol applied by Patiño-Palma et al. (2022).

The jump assessment was performed with the WheelerJump photoelectric sensor (Version 2-3, Wheeler Sports Tech, Tampa Florida), which has reported concurrent validity (Rho 0.92-0.99) and reliability (ICC 0.91-0.98) in athletes from different sports ( Patiño-Palma et al., 2022). The squat jump (SJ), countermovement jump (CMJ), and rebound jump (RJ) were used to determine lower limb power. For the SJ, the participants performed a vertical jump starting from the half squat position (knees bent at 90°), with the trunk upright and with the hands placed at the waist. For the CMJ, the participants performed a vertical jump starting from a two-legged position with an upright trunk and hands on the waist, then performed a quick downward movement and immediately after a quick upward countermovement to achieve the highest possible height. Finally, for the RJ, participants used the same technique as the CMJ and executed the highest number of successive jumps in 10s with the shortest contact time and the highest height in each jump. The average height RJ in 10s was calculated, and the RJ allowed us to calculate the Reactive Strength Index (RSI) by dividing the flight time over the contact time and then averaging the RSI of each jump performed in the test ( Jarvis et al., 2022). The elastic percentage (% elastic) was determined from the percentage difference between the SJ and the CMJ ( Kozinc et al., 2022).

The technique of each jump was explained to the participants. Two practice jumps were performed for each protocol to achieve the correct technique for each jump. Knee angle was monitored in the sagittal plane using real-time video digitizing software (Simi Motion ® 2D). We developed sprint assessments at 20 m and 50 m in which the participants covered the distance of 20 m and 50 m in the shortest time possible. The best time in seconds of two trials was recorded. The participants had two minutes to rest between each trial. The evaluation was performed with a horizontal encoder (Winlaborat, Buenos Aires, Argentina) with a sampling capacity of 100/1000 Hz and a maximum evaluation distance of up to 110 m.

The statistical analysis was performed with R version 4.1.3 under the R Studio interface R; we reported means, standard deviations (SD), and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for each variable. We tested if the variables had a normal distribution using the Crawley's graphical methodology, which is a tool that compares the behavior of observed data with those expected in a normal distribution ( Crawley, 2015) ( Figure 1) and the Shapiro-Wilk test, which is recommended with large sample sizes ( Seier, 2011). Since the data was non-parametric, we performed a correlation analysis using the Spearman's correlation coefficient.

Crawley’s chart.

We categorized the correlations based on the following thresholds for the effect sizes: <0.1 trivial; 0.1-0.3 small; 0.3-0.5 moderate; 0.5-0.7 large; 0.7-0.9 very large; and >0.9 almost perfect ( Hopkins et al., 2009). Finally, the coefficient of determination was applied to define the coincident pattern not explained by chance between the study variables.

 Results

A total of 200 soccer players from two professional soccer teams were evaluated (age: 17.45±2.3 years). Table 1 shows the descriptive data of the performance of the different jumps executed and the 20 m and 50 m sprint tests.

Descriptive data of the sample.
Mean±SD CI 95%
RSI 10” 2.37±0.35 2.32-2.41
elastic % 18.48±14.18 16.5-20.45
Average height RJ (cm) 34.95±4.54 34.31-35.58
Time 20 s 3.18±020 3.15-3.20
Time 50 s 7.14±0.62 7.05-7.22
Speed 20 m (m*s -1) 6.32±0.40 6.26-6.37
Speed 50 m (m*s -1) 7.06±0.62 6.97-7.14

SJ: The Squat Jump, CMJ: Countermovement Jump, RJ: Rebound Jump, RSI: Reactive strength index in 10 seconds, SD: Standard deviation, cm: Centimeters, m*s -1: Meters per second, CI 95%: Confidence interval at 95%.

A mean SJ height of 34.88±3.31 cm, CMJ of 41.08±4.24 cm, and an average of 34.95±4.54 cm for the RJ. For the RSI evaluated in 10 s a mean value of 2.37 was determined, being a result between moderate to high as established in the work of Healy et al., 2018. Regarding the speed, in the evaluated soccer players, a better performance is evidenced in the sprint at 50 m compared to the sprint at 20 m (7.06±0.62 m*s -1 vs. 6.32±0.40 m*s -1).

Figure 2 shows the correlation coefficients between time and sprint of the different distances evaluated with the variables resulting from the different jumping protocols. Average jump height in absolute terms was significantly correlated with running performance in 20-m and 50-m sprints. The strength of these correlations were moderate to strong. (average height vs Speed 20 m: P<0.05; r: 0.63; IC: 0.55-0.72; average height vs Speed 50 m: P<0.05; r: 0.97; IC: 0.96-0.98).

Correlation matrix between time and sprint of the different distances evaluated with the variables resulting from the different jumping protocols.

A positive correlation between moderate and high was found between the RSI in 10 s and the sprint speed at 20 m and 50 m (RSI vs Speed 20 m: P <0.05; r: 0.62; IC: 0.51-0.69; RSI vs Speed 50 m: P<0.05; r: 0.97; IC: 0.89-0.98). Meanwhile, the elastic percentage had a positive and moderate correlation with CMJ (P<0.05, r: 0.54; IC: 0.51-0.68) and a negative and small correlation with SJ (P<0.05; r: -0.47; IC: -0.62 to -0.42).

Given the strong correlation between jump height and RSI with 50 m sprint performance, the coefficient of determination was applied to explain the coincident pattern between these variables ( Figure 3). These coefficients varied between 0.4 and 0.9, showing an intensity between moderate and strong.

Coefficients of determination. Discussion

The study aimed to determine the relationship between vertical jump performance in SJ and CMJ variants and sprint speed at 20 m and 50 m in professional soccer players. We found a strong and positive correlation between the sprint speed at 50 m with the average height RJ in 10 s (0.97) and the RSI in 10 s (0.97), while a moderate positive relationship was found between elastic % and CMJ (0.6) and an inverse and negative correlation was established with SJ (-0.53). This means that average jump RJ in 10 s and the reactive force are linked to performance in 50 m sprint and that a higher CMJ the better elastic % was developed. Furthermore, the elastic percentage was not found to be linked to SJ performance since this jumping variant precisely eliminates the elastic energy input in its execution. The last is related to the shortening-stretching cycle, a common phenomena that reveal how elastic energy enhance motor performance and the specific contribution of contractil and elastic components of muscles in explosive elastic motor tasks like CMJ ( Turner and Jeffreys, 2010).

In relation to jump height and its association with sprint performance, our findings are consistent with that evidenced by Köklü et al. (2015); Rodríguez-Rosell et al. (2017) and Zileli and Söyler (2021) who also reported strong relationships between vertical jump and sprint performance. However, these authors evidenced this strong relationship in short sprint like 20 m and 30 m. Moreover, we found strong correlation between RSI in 10 s and 50 m sprint performance, which agree with the substantial relation stablished between these two variables in other studies ( Jarvis et al., 2022). However, in the case of the present study, this relationship was solid with long sprinting type 50 m.

We observed a moderate correlation coefficient between average jump height RJ in 10 s and RSI in 10 s with speed sprint in 20 m (0.63 and 0.62). Considering that the correlation between RSI 10s and sprint in 20 m is lower than the correlation between RSI and sprint in 50 m, the hypothesis that RSI correlates better with long sprints than for short distances sprints is supported. Thus, the capacity to sustain high levels of muscular power in very short contact times with high rates of explosive force development is better explained by the RSI ( Barker et al., 2018), especially for long-distance sprints. The last is reinforced by the highest goodness of fit between the RSI in 10 s and the sprint performance in 50 m evidenced by the coefficient of determination in this study (0.937).

Our data are particularly relevant in the sense that, even though jump height has been the most used and functional variable to represent the explosive and elastic components of strength using the SJ and CMJ, respectively, the RSI by normalizing jump height or flight time with ground contact time, has been reported as a more accurate variable to quantify jump performance and reflects to a better way the mechanicals phenomena during these movement patterns ( Barker et al., 2018).

Our findings in regards to a strong correlation between average jump height RJ in 10s with long distances sprints like 50 m (0.97) are in agreement with Shalfawi et al. (2011). Who evaluated professional basketball players finding progressively higher correlations between sprint speeds at 10, 20, and 40 m with jump height in SJ (0.53, 0.57 and 0.74, P<0.05) and CMJ (0.45, 0.49 and 0.74, P<0.05), suggesting that sprint performance depends on a substantial variation and combination of muscle performance factors. Similarly, Barr and Nolte (2011) found progressively higher correlations for both SJ and CMJ in female rugby players as fractional sprint distance increased from 0-10 m, 10-30 m, and 30-60 m (-0.53 to -0.74, P<0.05); however, they did not find a significant association between sprint performance and RSI.

Contrary to our results, Healy et al. (2019) evaluated male and female sprint athletes and did not find significant correlations between RSI and fractional sprint performance of 0-10 m, 10-20 m, 20-30 m, and 30-40 m, possibly due to prolonged contact times related to the measurement method with the vertical jump variant drop jump (DJ). Moreover, Jones et al. (2016) reported low to moderate correlations in female rugby players between sprinting at 5, 10, 15, 15, 20, 30, and 40 m and jump height in SJ and CMJ (-0.41 to - 0.61, P<0.05), however, they only found a significant correlation between RSI and sprint speed at 30 m also using DJ as measurement protocol.

In contrast, in accordance with our findings, Loturco et al. (2019) evidenced moderate to high correlations in elite field and track athletes between sprint speed and vertical jump performance in SJ (-0.79 to - 0.83, P<0.05) and CMJ (-0.76 to - 0.80, P<0.05) that became stronger as sprint distance increased from 10 to 60 m. However, did not find significant correlations between sprint distance and RSI using DJ as the measurement protocol. In addition, Smirniotou et al. (2008) also using DJ, found a significant correlation between sprint distances at 10, 30, 60, and 100 m with RSI increasing in strength of association as sprint length increased in regional level sprint athletes.

Following what we suggest, Lockie et al. (2014) when evaluating recreational field athletes, found moderate correlations between fractional sprint distances of 0-10, 0-20, and 0.40 m for both CMJ (- 0.721 to -0.629, P<0.05) and RSI (-0.53 to - 0.68, P<0.05) using DJ as the measurement protocol. Likewise, Furlong et al. (2021) after evaluating semi-professional Rugby players, found moderate correlations between sprint time at 30 m with SJ (-0.695, P<0.01), CMJ (-0.665, P < 0.01) and RSI assessed with DJ protocol (-0.685, P<0.01) demonstrating the relevance of the evaluation of these variables in the control and monitoring of sprint performance.

Concerning the RSI, all the studies mentioned above used the DJ vertical jump variant for its calculation, but only some studies have used repeated vertical jumps (RJ) for its estimation. In this sense, Nagahara et al. (2014) determined the relationship between the 60 m sprint in athletes specialized in 100 m flat distance with the performance in SJ, CMJ, and RJ using the six repeated jumps method for the latter and using the best RSI of the five available bounces between jumps as the final data. Although they found moderate correlations between the 60 m sprint with SJ (-0.55, P<0.05) and CMJ (-0.52, P<0.05), no significant correlations were found with RSI (-0.07). Likewise, Kariyama and Zushi (2016) determined the relationship between the 60-m sprint with kinetic parameters of torque and power using a force platform and sagittal plane motion data captured by a high-speed video camera during the execution of five repeated jumps, finding moderate correlations between 60 m sprinting with knee and ankle torque in both concentric (0.736 - 0.674, P<0.05) and eccentric (0.616-0.719, P<0.05) phases without finding significant correlations with RSI (0.295).

All of these considerations regarding our findings show contradictory and diverse results that may be associated with the type of athletes assessed, the evaluation methods and protocols used, and how we calculated the reactive strength indexes. In this regard, this study has some limitations. First, due to the cross-sectional nature of this study, it is impossible to establish causality. Second, using the RSI calculation based on the mean of repeated jumps over time did not favor the comparison with other studies. Third, the specific physical characteristics of the soccer players evaluated, who are in the training process, not only affected the results of the variables addressed in this study but also their comparison with other groups of athletes. For these reasons, the implications of our findings must be contextualized, verified, and replicated in future research.

 Conclusions

The ability to sprint over long distances such as 50 m is essential for athletic performance and success in soccer. The results of this study suggest that, in professional soccer players, performance in this type of sprint is strongly associated with the ability to perform repeated jumps using short contact times, thus increasing ground reaction forces, which results in similar behavior during successive contacts of the soccer player's feet against the ground during running in typical strategic offensive and defensive tasks in this sport. Furthermore, considering the strong correlation between the RSI in 10s and the 50 m linear sprint suggested by our results, it is also convenient to recommend its inclusion to monitor and control of curved sprint performance as pointed out by Loturco et al. (2020); therefore, its relationship with other manifestations of motor performance should also be addressed.

The practical applications inferred from our findings are related to optimal monitoring, planning, and control training in soccer players. First, given the strong correlations between long sprinting and RSI in 10 s is relevant to suggest that the RJ performance in 10 s may be an easy and saved time way to infer and explain the 50 m sprint performance in soccer players and its inclusion in future research in other sports and performance conditions that involve the use of high-power production in a short time. Second, this assessment method can be used to plan, control, and program the training process with particular focus on the reactive strength performance and its impact on quick technical skills used in soccer and other sports with similar characteristics. Third, in this context, the periodic evaluation by this method can reflect the velocity-based movements in soccer and bring out the capacity to support long-distance linear sprints in these athletes used frequently in offensive and defensive strategic movements. Finally, concerning elastic percentage, namely the SJ and CMJ difference, since this variable explains the contribution of the series and parallel elastic components of the muscles during the jump performance, it is highly useful to identify by separate the unique biomechanics characteristics of these two components and their contribution to explosive strength profile in these athletes. However, these considerations must be interpreted with caution because the changing behavior of these same variables in other studies.

 Data availability Underlying data

Mendeley Data: Vertical jump performance and the relationship with sprint speed al 20 m and 50 m in professional soccer players, https://doi.org/10.17632/z727frmfdw.1 ( Wheeler et al., 2023).

The project contains the following underlying data:

base datos.xlsx (Anonymized results from jumps, average height, and speed).

Data are available under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license (CC-BY 4.0).

 References Barker LA Harry JR Mercer JA : Relationships between countermovement jump ground reaction forces and jump height, reactive strength index, and jump time. J. Strength Cond. Res. 2018;32(1):248–254. 28746248 10.1519/JSC.0000000000002160 Barnes C Archer DT Hogg B : The evolution of physical and technical performance parameters in the english premier league. Int. J. Sports Med. 2014;35(13):1095–1100. 25009969 10.1055/s-0034-1375695 Barr MJ Nolte VW : Which measure of drop jump performance best predicts sprinting speed? J. Strength Cond. Res. 2011;25(7):1976–1982. 21701285 10.1519/JSC.0b013e3181e4f7ba Bishop C Read P McCubbine J : Vertical and Horizontal Asymmetries Are Related to Slower Sprinting and Jump Performance in Elite Youth Female Soccer Players. J. Strength Cond. Res. 2021;35(1):56–63. 29489719 10.1519/JSC.0000000000002544 Carling C Le Gall F Reilly T : Do anthropometric and fitness characteristics vary according to birth date distribution in elite youth academy soccer players? Scand. J. Med. Sci. Sports. 2009;19(1):3–9. 19000100 10.1111/j.1600-0838.2008.00867.x Crawley MJ : Statistics: An Introduction Using R. 2 edición. Wiley;2015. Cronin JB Hansen KT : Strength and power predictors of sports speed. J. Strength Cond. Res. 2005;19(2):349–357. 10.1519/14323.1 Faude O Koch T Meyer T : Straight sprinting is the most frequent action in goal situations in professional football. J. Sports Sci. 2012;30(7):625–631. 22394328 10.1080/02640414.2012.665940 Furlong LAM Harrison AJ Jensen RL : Measures of strength and jump performance can predict 30-m sprint time in rugby union players. J. Strength Cond. Res. 2021;35(9):2579–2583. 31009436 10.1519/JSC.0000000000003170 Harris NK Cronin JB Hopkins WG : Relationship between sprint times and the strength/power outputs of a machine squat jump. J. Strength Cond. Res. 2008;22(3):691–698. 18438252 10.1519/JSC.0b013e31816d8d80 Healy R Kenny IC Harrison AJ : Reactive strength index: A poor indicator of reactive strength? Int. J. Sports Physiol. Perform. 2018;13(6):802–809. 29182434 10.1123/ijspp.2017-0511 Healy R Smyth C Kenny IC : Influence of Reactive and Maximum Strength Indicators on Sprint Performance. J. Strength Cond. Res. 2019;33(11):3039–3048. 29939904 10.1519/JSC.0000000000002635 Hopkins WG Marshall SW Batterham AM : Progressive statistics for studies in sports medicine and exercise science. Med. Sci. Sports Exerc. 2009;41(1):3–12. 10.1249/MSS.0b013e31818cb278 Jarvis P Turner A Read P : Reactive Strength Index and its Associations with Measures of Physical and Sports Performance: A Systematic Review with Meta-Analysis. Sports Med. 2022;52(2):301–330. Springer. 34606061 10.1007/s40279-021-01566-y Jiménez-Reyes P Samozino P Brughelli M : Effectiveness of an individualized training based on force-velocity profiling during jumping. Front. Physiol. 2017;7(JAN):677. 28119624 10.3389/fphys.2016.00677 PMC5220048 Jiménez-Reyes P Samozino P García-Ramos A : Relationship between vertical and horizontal force-velocity-power profiles in various sports and levels of practice. PeerJ. 2018;6(11):e5937–e5918. 30479900 10.7717/peerj.5937 PMC6238764 Jones B Emmonds S Hind K : Physical qualities of international female rugby league players by playing position. J. Strength Cond. Res. 2016;30(5):1333–1340. 26439784 10.1519/JSC.0000000000001225 Kariyama Y Zushi K : Relationships between lower-limb joint kinetic parameters of sprint running and rebound jump during the support phases. J. Phys. Fitness Sports Med. 2016;5(2):187–193. 10.7600/jpfsm.5.187 Köklü Y Alemdaroğlu U Özkan A : The relationship between sprint ability, agility and vertical jump performance in young soccer players. Sci. Sports. 2015;30(1):e1–e5. 10.1016/j.scispo.2013.04.006 Kozinc Ž Žitnik J Smajla D : The difference between squat jump and countermovement jump in 770 male and female participants from different sports. Eur. J. Sport Sci. 2022;22(7):985–993. 34075858 10.1080/17461391.2021.1936654 Lockie RG Schultz AB Callaghan SJ : Contribution of leg power to multidirectional speed in field sport athletes. Journal of Australian Strength and Conditioning. 2014;22(16–24):2014. Loturco I Contreras B Kobal R : Vertically and horizontally directed muscle power exercises: Relationships with top-level sprint performance. PLoS One. 2018;13(7):e0201475. 30048538 10.1371/journal.pone.0201475 PMC6062113 Loturco I Kobal R Kitamura K : Predictive Factors of Elite Sprint Performance: Influences of Muscle Mechanical Properties and Functional Parameters. J. Strength Cond. Res. 2019;33(4):974–986. 30913203 10.1519/JSC.0000000000002196 Loturco I Nakamura FY Kobal R : Training for power and speed: Effects of increasing or decreasing jump squat velocity in elite young soccer players. J. Strength Cond. Res. 2015;29(10):2771–2779. 10.1519/JSC.0000000000000951 Loturco I Pereira LA Fílter A : Curve sprinting in soccer: Relationship with linear sprints and vertical jump performance. Biol. Sport. 2020;37(3):277–283. 32879550 10.5114/biolsport.2020.96271 PMC7433323 Morin JB Edouard P Samozino P : Technical ability of force application as a determinant factor of sprint performance. Med. Sci. Sports Exerc. 2011;43(9):1680–1688. 21364480 10.1249/mss.0b013e318216ea37 Morin JB Samozino P : Interpreting power-force-velocity profiles for individualized and specific training. Int. J. Sports Physiol. Perform. 2016; (Vol.11(Número2): pp.267–272). Human Kinetics Publishers Inc. 26694658 10.1123/ijspp.2015-0638 Nagahara R Naito H Miyashiro K : Traditional and ankle-specific vertical jumps as strength-power indicators for maximal sprint acceleration. J. Sports Med. Phys. Fitness. 2014;54(6):691–699. 24739258 Patiño-Palma BE Wheeler-Botero CA Ramos-Parrací CA : Validación y fiabilidad del sensor Wheeler Jump para la ejecución del salto con contramovimiento. Apunts Educación Física y Deportes. 2022;149:37–44. 10.5672/APUNTS.2014-0983.ES.(2022/3).149.04 Read PJ Oliver JL Croix MBDS : Consistency of Field-Based Measures of Neuromuscular Control Using Force-Plate Diagnostics in Elite Male Youth Soccer Players. J. Strength Cond. Res. 2016;30(12):3304–3311. 27075641 10.1519/JSC.0000000000001438 PMC5053830 Rodríguez-Rosell D Mora-Custodio R Franco-Márquez F : Traditional vs. Sport-specific vertical jump tests: Reliability, validity, and relationship with the legs strength and sprint performance in adult and teen soccer and basketball players. J. Strength Cond. Res. 2017;31(1):196–206. 27172267 10.1519/JSC.0000000000001476 Samozino P Rabita G Dorel S : A simple method for measuring power, force, velocity properties, and mechanical effectiveness in sprint running. Scand. J. Med. Sci. Sports. 2016;26(6):648–658. 25996964 10.1111/sms.12490 Seier E : Normality Tests: Power Comparison. International Encyclopedia of Statistical Science. Springer Berlin Heidelberg;2011; (pp.1000–1003). 10.1007/978-3-642-04898-2_421 Shalfawi SAI Sabbah A Kailani G : The relationship between running speed and measures of vertical jump in professional basketball players: A field-test approach. J. Strength Cond. Res. 2011;25(11):3088–3092. 10.1519/JSC.0b013e318212db0e Slawinski J Termoz N Rabita G : How 100-m event analyses improve our understanding of world-class men’s and women’s sprint performance. Scand. J. Med. Sci. Sports. 2017;27(1):45–54. 26644061 10.1111/sms.12627 Smirniotou A Katsikas C Paradisis G : Strength-power parameters as predictors of sprinting performance. J. Sports Med. Phys. Fitness. 2008;48(4):447–454. 18997647 Tejada C Suarez G : Correlación entre la potencia en miembros inferiores (altura de despegue del salto) medida con protocolo de Bosco y la velocidad frecuencial (medida con el test de 30 y 60 metros planos) de la selección Colombia femenina y masculina de ultimate frisbe. Revista de Educación Física. 2013;2(1):147–162. Turner AN Jeffreys I : The stretch-shortening cycle: Proposed mechanisms and methods for enhancement. Strength and Conditioning Journal. 2010;32(4):87–99. 10.1519/SSC.0b013e3181e928f9 Varley MC Aughey RJ : Acceleration profiles in elite Australian soccer. Int. J. Sports Med. 2013;34(1):34–39. 22895869 10.1055/s-0032-1316315 Wake M Lycett K Clifford SA : Shared care obesity management in 3-10 year old children: 12 month outcomes of HopSCOTCH randomised trial. BMJ (Online). 2013;346(7913) 23751902 10.1136/bmj.f3092 PMC3677741 Wheeler Botero C Patiño-Palma BE Ramos Parraci CA : Vertical jump performance and the relationship with sprint speed at 20 m and 50 m in professional soccer players.Dataset. Mendeley Data. 2023;V1. 10.17632/z727frmfdw.1 Zileli R Söyler M : The Examination of the Relationship between Sprint and Vertical Jump in Soccer Players. MANAS Sosyal Araştırmalar Dergisi. 2021;10(1):485–491. 10.33206/mjss.726101 10.5256/f1000research.144040.r400824 Reviewer response for version 1 Mayhew Jerry L. 1 Referee Truman State University, Kirksville, Missouri, USA

Competing interests: No competing interests were disclosed.

 11 8 2025 Copyright: © 2025 Mayhew JL 2025 This is an open access peer review report distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Licence, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. recommendation approve-with-reservations

The topic is interesting, and the approach seems acceptable for answering the main question of the relationship between vertical jump and sprinting speed.  However, throughout the paper there are various places where the description provided does not seem to be in correct English format. Some notations have been provided below.

Abstract

Page 1, line 2:           “since they allow the determination of neuromuscular ……”

Page 1, line 8:           “with participants (n = 200_ from the U20 category….”

Page 1, line 14:         The 1 st sentence for the 200 participants can be omitted since you have mentioned earlier.   

Page 1: line 15:         p<0.05 is a probability.  It would suffice to report the r = 0.9.

Page 1, line 16:         You mention the “reactive force index” here but you refer to it as “Reactive Strength Index” on page 4, line 13.  While the definitions of each seem very similar, it would be good to be consistent in using a specific term for this maneuver. 

Page 1, line 20           "…. but the correlation levels (r = 0.62 and r = 0.63, p<0.05) and coefficient of determination (r 2 – 0.93 and r2 = …...”  Isn’t the coefficient of determination the r 2, which would mean these COD would be 38% and 40%.

Page 1: line 23        "…...like 50m is strongly correlated with and could be accurately explained ….”

Page 2, lines 1-4       This is a really long sentence and might benefit by being divided into at least two sentences. 

Page 3, line 1           "…. skills in professional soccer (Faude et al.< 2012).  Short sprints with and without the ball are one of the most frequent actions in goal situations.  For this reason, power …….” 

There are numerous other situations throughout the paper where attention to the wording would enhance the delivery of your message.  Hence, I suggest you have someone proficient in English assist you in the writing of this very nice study.

Is the work clearly and accurately presented and does it cite the current literature?

No

If applicable, is the statistical analysis and its interpretation appropriate?

Yes

Are all the source data underlying the results available to ensure full reproducibility?

Yes

Is the study design appropriate and is the work technically sound?

Yes

Are the conclusions drawn adequately supported by the results?

Yes

Are sufficient details of methods and analysis provided to allow replication by others?

No

Reviewer Expertise:

Resistance training, power performance testing

I confirm that I have read this submission and believe that I have an appropriate level of expertise to confirm that it is of an acceptable scientific standard, however I have significant reservations, as outlined above.

 10.5256/f1000research.144040.r199174 Reviewer response for version 1 Mainer-Pardos Elena 1 Referee https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2947-9564 Universidad San Jorge, Villanueva de Gállego, Aragon, Spain

Competing interests: No competing interests were disclosed.

 31 8 2023 Copyright: © 2023 Mainer-Pardos E 2023 This is an open access peer review report distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Licence, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. recommendation approve-with-reservations

Thank you for the opportunity to review this article. The paper addresses a novel under-researched area, which has the potential to provide useful recommendations for coaches. However, there are some questions that need to be addressed to the manuscript.

Specific comments are provided below:

INTRODUCTION

Center the introduction around soccer. There is an extensive bibliography available to develop it in line with the chosen topic.

While you have mentioned several studies, it would be helpful to briefly explain why these studies are relevant or significant to your introduction. This will help the readers understand the context and importance of these studies in relation to your topic. (Paragraph 2, 3 and 4)

There is some repetition of points. For example, you have mentioned that sprinting is frequently used in soccer and that power and speed skills are important in decisive moments. You can consolidate these points to avoid redundancy.

When introducing technical terms like "force-velocity (F-v) profile" or "power-velocity (P-v) profile," consider providing brief definitions or explanations to ensure that all readers. (Paragraph 4 and 5).

Add examples of different sports (“Different authors reported strong relationships between different neuromuscular capacities and sprint performance in different sports”)

Add references related to “especially in soccer”

Add examples of “technological devices”

 METHODS

1. Ethical statement

While you have e mentioned informed consent and assent, you can briefly explain what this mean. Informed consent signifies the participants' understanding of the research's purpose and their voluntary agreement to participate. Informed assent for minors involves their understanding and agreement to the extent they are capable.

Incorporate the signature of parents or legal guardians for minors.

 2. Study design

Provide more context about why you chose a sample of 200 soccer players, specifically 100 from the under 20 years old category of the Colombian professional team Fortaleza CEIF, and another 100 from the under 18 years old category of the Brazilian professional team Boston City. Explain how this sample size and composition were relevant to your research goals.

Describe the recruitment process in more detail. How were the football players under the age of 20 recruited? Did you have any inclusion or exclusion criteria for participation? Also, clarify whether this convenience sample was used due to specific practical reasons or limitations.

Incorporate the number of training days and minutes per week for each professional team.

 3. Data collection

Why were data collected for more than one season?

What were the temperature and humidity levels during the tests?

Where were the tests conducted? On a soccer field? If so, was it natural or artificial turf?

What type of trainers were utilized by the players?

 RESULTS

Why was not the sample divided into two groups based on age (U18 and U20), considering the substantial sample size? This would have allowed for a comparison between the two groups.

 DISCUSSION

Insert "r" (correlation) before the numerical values: 0.97, 0.6, and 0.53. Review the entire discussion for this correction.

Is the work clearly and accurately presented and does it cite the current literature?

Yes

If applicable, is the statistical analysis and its interpretation appropriate?

Yes

Are all the source data underlying the results available to ensure full reproducibility?

Yes

Is the study design appropriate and is the work technically sound?

Partly

Are the conclusions drawn adequately supported by the results?

Yes

Are sufficient details of methods and analysis provided to allow replication by others?

Partly

Reviewer Expertise:

Sport sciences

I confirm that I have read this submission and believe that I have an appropriate level of expertise to confirm that it is of an acceptable scientific standard, however I have significant reservations, as outlined above.