Relationship between side hop test and pre-planned and unplanned cutting

BACKGROUND: This study aimed to explore the relationships among the three cutting tasks (side hop test: SHT, pre-planned and unplanned cuttings).METHODS: Twenty-seven college male soccer players performed three types of cutting tasks (SHT, pre-planned and unplanned cuttings), six types of single-leg jumping tests, and 10 m sprints. We employed Pearson’s correlation coefficient (P<0.05) to investigate the relationships among the three cutting tasks and between each cutting task and the single-leg jumping tests, as well as the 10 m sprint.RESULTS: No significant correlations were found between the SHT and pre-planned (r=-0.19) and unplanned (r=-0.16) cutting times. The SHT showed significant correlations with rebound forward jump (r=-0.55) and rebound lateral jump (r=-0.51), which require a large force production in a short ground contact time. On the other hand, the pre-planned and unplanned cuttings showed significant correlations with countermovement jump (r -0.47 to -0.44), lateral jump (r -0.49 to -0.43), which requires great impulse, and 10 m sprint (r 0.42 to 0.52).CONCLUSIONS: The SHT did not reflect the abilities of change of direction and agility, suggesting that different abilities may be required for each test. Taken together, our results suggest that the SHT should be used as an ankle-specific assessment test during the return to sports process following ankle sprains, while the abilities of change of direction and agility should be measured using specific field tests.