Reliability, Sensitivity, and Construct Validity of Drop Jump and Barbell Velocity Assessments to Determine Neuromuscular Status in Professional, Male Basketball Players

Pragmatic monitoring methods to assess neuromuscular status (NMS) can offer useful insight regarding player recovery and readiness to perform in basketball contexts. Consequently, this novel study investigated the reliability, sensitivity, and construct validity of drop jump and barbell velocity tests in assessing NMS in basketball players. Twelve professional, male players (26.3 ± 2.2 years) were initially assessed across retest trials to determine the reliability and sensitivity of reactive strength index (RSI) from the drop jump and barbell mean propulsive velocity (MPV) from the trap bar deadlift. The construct validity of these approaches was assessed by comparing RSI and MPV measurements taken immediately before (baseline), immediately after, and 36 hr following a basketball-specific fatiguing protocol. Relatively strong reliability was demonstrated in drop jump RSI (ICC = 0.80; CV = 6.99%) and barbell MPV (ICC = 0.76; CV = 4.96%). Drop jump RSI and barbell velocity demonstrated <i>okay</i> and <i>good</i> sensitivity in detecting <i>moderate</i> changes, respectively. Nonsignificant (<i>p</i> > .05) <i>small</i>-to-<i>moderate</i> differences in drop jump RSI and <i>trivial</i> differences in barbell MPV were apparent between time points. The drop jump and trap bar deadlift tests may provide reliable measures, sensitive to <i>moderate</i> changes in performance, but appear limited in detecting changes in NMS surrounding high-load basketball activity. The greater sensitivity and simplicity of the drop jump indicate it may potentially be the more pragmatic approach. However, future research should explore the effect various fatiguing stimuli have on drop jump RSI and barbell MPV to better understand their validity as monitoring methods.