Effects of Coaching on Single-leg Triple-hop Performance and Joint Kinematics For Youth Athletes

Coaching cues might influence athletic performance and injury risk for young athletes. Coaching cues can be categorized as internal or external. The effects of internal and external coaching cues on jumping performance are unclear. PURPOSE: To compare the effects of external and internal coaching cues on single-leg triple-hop jump distance, ground contact time, and sagittal-plane hip, knee, and ankle joint kinematics for youth athletes performing a single-leg triple-hop test. METHODS: 39 volunteers (24 males and 15 females, Ages 10-17 yrs) were randomly assigned to a control, internal-, or external-cue group. All participants completed 3 pre-intervention jumping trials. The control participants then watched a video unrelated to the test, the internal-cue participants watched a demonstration emphasizing arm swing, and the external-cue participants were told to focus on a cone beyond their jumping range. After these interventions, all participants performed 3 post-intervention jumping trials. Percent change for jump distance, ground contact time and joint kinematics were compared between the 3 groups using a multivariate ANOVA and univariate post-hoc comparisons (α = 0.05). RESULTS: Group significantly affected single-leg triple-hop distance (p < 0.01). External-cue participants increased their jump distance by 8.3% more than the control participants (p < 0.01) and 7.1% more than the internal-cue participants (p = 0.01). There was no significant difference in response between the sexes (p = 0.22). For all the participants, percent change in single-leg hop distance and ground contact time were somewhat correlated with change in maximal hip flexion angle during ground contact (r = 0.38 for jump distance and 0.32 for ground contact time). CONCLUSION: External cues more effectively increased triple hop jump test performance than internal cues, and the hip was more strongly associated with this change in distance than the knee or ankle. We suspect that similar approaches (i.e., external cues) can be used to encourage young athletes to jump in ways that are safer, as well as facilitating enhanced athletic performance.