Profiling of Junior College Football Players and Differences between Position Groups

Abstract

This study profiled junior college football players. Sixty-two subjects completed vertical jump (VJ; height and peak power), standing broad jump (SBJ), 36.58 m sprint, pro-agility shuttle, three-cone drill, and maximal-repetition bench press and front squat. The sample included 2 quarterbacks (QB), 7 running backs (RB), 13 wide receivers (WR), 1 tight end (TE), 18 defensive backs (DB), 8 linebackers (LB), and 13 offensive and defensive linemen (LM). To investigate positional differences, subjects were split into skill (SK; WR, DB), big skill (BSK; QB, RB, TE, LB), and LM groups. A one-way ANOVA determined between-group differences. LM were taller and heavier than SK and BSK players. The SK and BSK groups were faster than LM in the 0–36.58 m sprint, pro-agility shuttle, and three-cone drill (p ≤ 0.009). The SK group had greater VJ height and SBJ distance; LM generated greater VJ peak power (p ≤ 0.022). There were no between-group differences in the strength endurance tests. Compared to Division I data, junior college players were smaller, slower, and performed worse in jump tests. Positional differences in junior college football are typical to that of established research. Junior college players should attempt to increase body mass, and improve speed and lower-body power.

Physical Fitness Characteristics of High-level Youth Football Players: Influence of Playing Position

“…Elite players in their study showed significantly higher results than in our evaluation (S5 = 0.979 ± 0.046 s; S10 = 1.69 ± 0.059 s). However, the average age of the players analyzed in the study by Lockie et al [ 40 ] was 21.2 ± 1.32 years (compared to the players in our study with an average age of 15.7 ± 0.5 years). The completion time for the 20 m sprint, and the 0–10 m and 10–20 m splits had a moderate to high correlation with the age of the athlete ( r = −0.53, −0.40, and −0.57, respectively; p < 0.001).…”

“…Our accelerated sprints (S5 and S10) findings were consistent with a recent study by Gilet et al [ 39 ] (1.06 ± 0.1 s and 1.77 ± 0.1 s vs. 1.13 ± 0.07 s and 1.9 ± 0.1 s). Lockie et al [ 40 ] support that linear speed is a crucial factor for football players for positional play and goal scoring. Elite players in their study showed significantly higher results than in our evaluation (S5 = 0.979 ± 0.046 s; S10 = 1.69 ± 0.059 s).…”

Physiological Profile of Brazilian Elite Soccer Players: Comparison between U-17, U-20 and professionals

“…Th is demonstrates that older professional soccer athletes need to pay greater attention to the aerobic training component. Previous studies have observed little diff erence between the playing positions in men (Lockie, Lazar et al, 2016). However, the respective measurements were: anthropometrical measures, jump assessments, linear non-linear speed tests or featured only indirect muscular endurance tests.…”

The Effects of Lateral Bounds on Post-Activation Potentiation of Change-of-Direction Speed Measured by the 505 Test in College-Aged Men and Women

“…A Vertec apparatus (EPIC Athletic Performance, Lincoln, NE, USA) was used to measure vertical jump performance. This equipment has been extensively utilized in jump performance testing, and established procedures adopted within previous studies as well as the applied setting were undertaken [2,16,[25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36]. The procedures for determining jump height demonstrated acceptable levels of reliability (intra-class correlation coefficient (ICC) = 0.91; typical error of measurement (TEM) = 4.36; and coefficient of variation (CV) = 7.86%).…”

“…Rapid and decisive COD movements are performed throughout match-play and are often critical to individual and team success for many field-and court-based sports (e.g., a line break in rugby, a fast break in basketball, a score or shift in momentum in a soccer or football game). The importance of COD speed to match-play has resulted in extensive investigations across various athlete populations as a means of differentiating competition level [1], between positions [2], or to ascertain which technical characteristics are associated with better performance [3]. Nonetheless, to the authors knowledge there has been limited investigation into appropriate means of enhancing COD speed acutely, which could translate to faster performance over the long-term.…”