Kinetics and Stabilization of the Tuck Jump Assessment

Context: Kinetic profiles of athletes performing the tuck jump assessment (TJA) are unknown and may provide insight into the risk of anterior cruciate ligament injury. Design: The purpose of this study was to (1) analyze vertical kinetics of the TJA and (2) determine the stabilization of the kinetics across successive jumping cycles. Methods: Twenty-five healthy female athletes (age = 22.0 [4.6] y; height = 1.69 [0.07] m; body mass = 69.3 [10.3] kg) completed one trial of repeated tuck jumps on a force plate for 10 seconds. Results: Vertical ground reaction force data were used to calculate the following variables across all jump cycles: time of jump cycle (0.65 [0.04] s), ground contact time (0.22 [0.03] s), flight time (0.43 [0.04] s), duty factor (0.34 [0.05]), jump height (0.23 [0.04] m), peak vertical force (5.52 [0.91] body weight [BW]), peak center of mass displacement (0.15 [0.02] m), vertical leg stiffness (27.09 [7.06] BW m-1), vertical average loading rate (105.94 [28.43] BW s-1), vertical instantaneous loading rate (140.90 [28.49] BW s-1), and net impulse (0.43 [0.03] BW s). A sequential averaging technique indicated a minimum of 11 jumps were required for stabilization of the kinetics. Conclusions: The TJA exposes athletes to high magnitudes of vertical force. Based on the high variability of performance during early repetitions and the potential to miscategorize high-risk landing in female athletes, practitioners should consider scoring the TJA after 11 successive cycles and using kinetic profiling to support landing assessments.