Research in Sport Medicine and Technology

Regarding the effects of the kinematics of the movement on athletic performance and the Importance of promoting athlete’s performance on the sport fields, there is limited knowledge about the mechanism of the effect of different variables of volleyball spike. Therefore, the aim of this study was the prediction of jump performance in elite female volleyball players with selected kinematic variables.  Thirty elite female volleyball players with mean age of 21.44±3.42 have volunteered for this study. Lower limbs kinematics have been recorded using 16 reflexive markers with Vicon motion analysis system during volleyball spike jump performance. Jump height and time of concentric phase of jump have been predicted by center of mas velocity during step, final step length and ranges of the motion of hip, knee and ankle with stepwise regression (α≤0.05). The results showed that knee range of motion center of mass velocity and step length could be the predictors for time of jump and center of mass velocity and hip range of motion could be the predictors for the jump height as well. Considering these results and the goal and situation of the volleyball match, the players should focus on different phases and affecting variables of the spike jump.