INFLUENCE OF VERTICAL JUMP PERFORMANCE ON ACCELERATION, MAXIMAL SPEED AND CHANGE OF DIRECTION SPEED IN PROFESSIONAL SOCCER PLAYERS.

In this study, we evaluated the efficacy of vertical jump performance on acceleration, maximal speed and change of direction speed in professional soccer players. A total of 18 football players, mean age: 24.6?2.7 years, mean height: 1.80?0.06 cm, mean weight: 75.4?5.75 kg and mean body fat percentage 11.8?1.38 %, in a 3rd Division Professional Soccer Team were voluntarily participated in this study. At the completion of the warm-up protocol, players completed assessments of countermovement jump (CMJ), speed (10-, and 30-m sprints) and change of direction speed (Pro Agility and T-test) tests. Spearman correlation analysis was used to identify the relationships between the CMJ and speed tests. Players displayed a significant negative moderate correlations between CMJ and 10-m (r= -0.59; p= 0.01), and CMJ and 30-m (r= -0.63; p= 0.00). Also it was found significant negative strong correlation between CMJ and T-test (r= -0.81; p= 0.00). However, no significant correlation was found between CMJ and Pro Agility Test (r= -0.22; p= 0.19). The results of this study show that there is a moderate-strong relationship between power and speed ability in soccer players.