The Effect of Depth Jumping and Rope Jumping on the Vertical Jump Performance of Junior High Females

Abstract

The purpose of this investigation was to determine the effects of depth jumping and rope jumping on vertical jump performance. The investigator used a 3 X 2 factorial design consisting of two treatment groups and one control group. Two hundred forty-one subjects in grades 6, 7, and 8 were pretested on vertical jumping ability using a jump and reach test and randomly assigned to a depth jumping group, a rope jumping group or a control group. The training period for the rope jumping and depth jumping groups consisted of two sessions each week for nine consecutive weeks. In each session, the depth jumping group (N=80) performed three sets of ten jumps from a height of 40.64 centimeters, while the rope jumping group (N=80) jumped with maximal effort for three thirty second intervals, resting one minute between each set. The control group (N=81) performed balancing tasks and was not involved in bounding or plyometric activities. At the conclusion of the nine week experimental study, all subjects were posttested on vertical jumping ability using the same procedure as in the pretest. Vertical jump performance means and standard deviations were calculated for the two-treatment groups and the control group. Data were primarily analyzed using a repeated measures ANOVA. The results demonstrated that vertical jump performance was significantly improved (p < .05) in the depth jumping and rope jumping groups when compared to the control group. Post-hoc analyses revealed that neither training program was more effective than the other in improving vertical jumping ability in junior high females.