COMPARISON OF FORCE PLATE JUMPING METRICS BETWEEN LAND-BASED ATHLETES AND WATER-BASED ATHLETES

Water polo is a contact sport played in a limited-gravity environment (water), restricting lower body eccentric contractions, unlike soccer, a land-based contact sport where athletes frequently use the ground to generate eccentric force. Understanding how force is generated and applied during movement is crucial, particularly when comparing athletes from such contrasting environments. This study aimed to quantify countermovement jump (CMJ) force plate metrics in collegiate water polo players and compare them to collegiate soccer players. Participants included 20 male and 25 female water polo players, and 25 male and 26 female soccer players. Each athletes performed two CMJs in the Titan Weight Room, eight games into their season. A Hawkins Dynamics force plate system recorded metrics including jump height, time to take-off, modified reactive strength index, eccentric rate of force development, average and peak braking force, and peak braking velocity. A 2x2 ANOVA (Sport × Sex) assessed differences across groups. As hypothesized, soccer players generally exhibited higher force production across most variables. However, men’s water polo players achieved similar jump height to men’s soccer players, and women’s water polo players showed comparable values in time to take-off, eccentric rate of force development, and peak braking velocity to their soccer counterparts. These findings suggest that while land-based athletes typically produce higher force outputs, water-based athletes can demonstrate similar performance in certain metrics, especially when matched by sex. This highlights the adaptability of force production across different training environments and the importance of environment-specific athletic development.