Vertical Jump Movement Analysis

Vertical Jump Movement Analysis
The vertical jump is a body movement that is commonly associated with sports persons especially in specialized sporting areas like basketball and volleyball. The success of any sports man in these games is largely attributed to ability to do vertical jump effectively. The vertical jump has been utilized in the past to study and follow up on jumping ability trough a strength and condition program. Irrespective of the prevalent use of the vertical jump, many writers or personnel have not demonstrated a well understood mechanics of this movement. However some of the information provided such as the kinesiological analysis has become useful in this area.
A look at the anatomy of the lower extremity reveals special muscles that aide in this process. It helps the movement of the legs. Several of the muscles of the lower extremity go over more than one joint in the legs. Rectus femoris is one of the important muscles. Others include gastrocnemius, semimembranosus, semitendinosus and the long head of biceps femoris (all these three always consists as unitary muscles).
Another bunch of muscles that help in this process is found around the hip next to the proximal joints. Near the knee and the ankle has a few of muscles. The muscles around the hip are quite huge in number for the sole purpose of supporting the enormous mass of the body. This kind of muscles arrangement is very important by providing more power to the distal joints during the vertical jump.
The point of start for this jump begins with the vertical takeoff from the ground. The hip joint gets extended after which the knee and the ankle joints follow suit. Once the fest loses contact with the ground, the extensions stops. What follows after the takeoff is described as the preparatory face which entails the flexing of the hip and the knee joints. The activities in the muscles are largely eccentric in this stage. Gravity plays a vital role during this movement as it gives the person involved in the jump the driving force. This will be demonstrated in the photos below.
The two joint muscles play a very important role as they redistribute mechanical energy generated by the concentric movement of the one joint muscle. This enhances the optimal performance of the leg extension movement. There is a huge amount of power generated at the ankles during the maximal effort vertical jump. Although this kind of energy can be given the reason of the maximal jump, significant amount of energy present at the ankle is transferred there from the hip and knew by the two joint muscles. The vertical jump height is also enhanced by the presence of the two joints gastrocnemius.
During several of lower body movements the muscles in action such as the rectus femoris act to flex the hip and extend the knee. If the femoris is put into action it tends to take up the two roles at the same time. In a situation of taking off from the ground, the hip and the knee are all extending simultaneously. This causes some kind of straining action of the femoris as it tends to lengthen towards its end and also shortening at the other. The results effect is that the total length of the two joint muscles may not change substantially. As a result of the velocity and force applied on the muscles the two joint muscles exert high force at the point of contraction. It’s important to note that despite the force generated by these muscles; very little movement is experienced at the joints because of the minimal change in the change of muscle length.
The transfer of the mechanical energy generated by the two joint muscles can be demonstrated in the following manner. When the rectus femoris and the gastrocnemius are isometric at the takeoff time, they should be looked at as acting as stiff instruments joining the anterior portion of the pelvis to the tibial tuberosity and the posterior portion of the distal femur to the calcaneus. The contraction of the hip extensors will occasion two things. One is the on the hip. Two is extension about the knee because of the pull of the rectus femoris.
During jumping the sports person may occasion injuries induced from the surface coupled by poor coordination of the body muscles involved in vertical jumps. The high jumper must be careful not to lose balance when jumping in any kind of ground like wet synthetic surfaces. Sometimes, tendon injuries can occur due to the strain involved. Continuous jumping on severely damaged grounds can cause excessive forces to impact on the inside muscles. This results in Achilles tendon and could also lead to ankle and knee joint problems. Sports person are advised to avoid excessive exercises which can occasion these injuries. Muscles relaxants and other medication are also important to keep the situation in control. Above all it’s important to do the vertical jumps on safe surfaces to avoid being exposed to injuries.
Lastly, a look into the design of strength and conditioning program of performance improvement can be done as follows. This program can be developed and implemented for a period of about 8 weeks. The first step is to establish the extent of the injury problems through conducting an investigation on specific factors such as the incidences, severity and mechanism and risk factors. This can take partly a medical process and physical observation of the sports men and the conditions they are exposed to. The assessment should also include the effectiveness and cost effectiveness of the preventive actions to be taken against injuries and strength conditioning.
The second step is to establish the athletes’ physical performance and fitness levels by assessing muscular strength, functional performance, flexibility, power and his cardiovascular tendencies. This is important to help design an activity for this purpose that does not burden the athlete causing him more injuries. The quantity and intensity of the activity apportioned should be directly proportional to the ability of the athlete to endure any challenges posed by such an exercise.
The third step is to introduce the injury prevention and strength conditioning program having put into considerations the amount of supervision needed to adhere to the prescribed routine. Each individual is apportioned his program that firs him. And compliance throughout the entire period is needed. It is noteworthy to give the athletes an easy time of understanding the program by providing educational tools for coaches and vertical jumpers.
The analysis of the vertical just is important for sport professionals because it guides in choosing the right type of exercise when training. The mode of training should therefore be comfortable and not dangerous for the sports persons. Further, this knowledge is a great benefit to the strength and conditioning professionals as it gives a better understanding about the activities they are involved in.
The diagram shows takeoff from the ground. Two joint muscles include the rectus femortis (REC), gastrocnemius (GAS) and hamstrings.
This shows the GAS and REC transport mechanical energy produced by the proximal one joint muscle to other distal joints. The Hamstrings at this point transports some mechanical energy forth to the hip










References
Umberger R. (1998). Mechanics of the Vertical Jump and Two-Joint Muscles: Implications for Trainning. (Occasional Paper.) Department of Orthopaedics: University of Rochester Medical Centre. Retrieved 26 September 2017 from http://www.umass.edu/locomotion/pdfs/scj-1998.pdf
Augustsson S. (2009). Strengthening training for Physical Performance and Injury Prevention in Sports: Individualized and supervised training for female athletes. Department of Orthopaedics: University of Gothenburg. Retrieved 26 September 2017 from https://gupea.ub.gu.se/bitstream/2077/20448/2/gupea_2077_21073_2.pdf
Linthorne P. (2001). Analysis of standing Vertical Jumps using a force Platform. School of exercise and Sports Science: University of Sydney. Retrieved 26 September 2017 from http://ebm.ufabc.edu.br/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/VerticalJump_Linthorne.pdf