ORIGINAL ARTICLE   

Gazzetta Medica Italiana - Archivio per le Scienze Mediche 2022 July-August;181(7-8):496-501

DOI: 10.23736/S0393-3660.21.04596-4

Copyright © 2021 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

language: English

Relationship between various jumping and sprinting abilities in Japanese elementary school children

Kazuhiro AOKI ¹ ✉, Kenta KATSUMATA ¹, Shingo NAKAMARU ², Yoshimitsu KOHMURA ³

¹ Graduate School of Health and Sports Science, Juntendo University, Chiba, Japan; ² Japan Women’s College of Physical Education, Department of Sports Wellness Sciences, Tokyo, Japan; ³ School of Health and Sports Science, Juntendo University, Chiba, Japan

BACKGROUND: A strong relationship exists between jumping and sprinting abilities in adolescents and athletes. While there are various measurement parameters to determine jumping ability, we do not have a plethora of information on such abilities in elementary school students. We aimed to investigate the various relationships between jumping and sprinting abilities in elementary school children.
METHODS: One hundred and sixty-three children participated in this study (93 boys and 70 girls in the fourth and fifth grades). Jumping ability was measured via vertical and horizontal jumping maneuvers, while sprinting ability was measured on 30-m and 50-m runs; subsequently, we analyzed the relationship between these abilities.
RESULTS: Sprinting ability in elementary school children strongly correlated with jumping ability, particularly with countermovement and standing long jumps. Moreover, the standing triple jump, standing quintuple jump, and standing 10-stride jump showed a stronger relationship with sprinting ability than other jumping abilities.
CONCLUSIONS: There was a strong relationship between the sprinting and jumping abilities in elementary school children. In particular, the horizontal jumping ability, which can be performed more easily than the vertical jumping ability, was related to the sprinting ability. Hence, the horizontal jumping ability was selected as the recommended training parameter for elementary school physical education.

KEY WORDS: Schools; Child; Sex characteristics