Acute effects of handheld loading on standing broad jump in youth athletes

The study aimed to investigate the acute effects of handheld loading on standing broad jump (SBJ) performance and biomechanics. Fifteen youth male athletes (mean age: 14.7 ± 0.9 years; body mass: 59.3 ± 8.0 kg; height: 1.73 ± 0.07 m) volunteered to participate in the study. Participants were assigned to perform SBJ with and without 4 kg dumbbells in a random order. Kinematic and kinetic data were collected using 10 infrared high-speed motion-capture cameras at a 250 Hz sampling rate and two force platforms at a 1000 Hz sampling rate. A paired t-test was applied to all variables to determine the significance between loading and unloading SBJs. Horizontal distance (p < 0.001), take-off distance (p = 0.001), landing distance (p < 0.001), horizontal velocity of center of mass (CoM; p < 0.001), push time (p < 0.001), vertical impulse (p = 0.003), and peak horizontal and vertical ground reaction force (GRF; p < 0.001, p = 0.017) were significantly greater in loading SBJ than in unloading SBJ. The take-off vertical velocity of CoM (p = 0.001), take-off angle (p < 0.001), peak knee and hip velocity (p < 0.001, p = 0.007), peak ankle and hip moment (p = 0.006, p = 0.011), and peak hip power (p = 0.014) were significantly greater in unloading SBJ than in loading SBJ. Conclusions: Acute enhancement in SBJ performance was observed with handheld loading. The present findings contribute to the understanding of biomechanical differences in SBJ performance with handheld loading and are highly applicable to strength and conditioning training for athletes.