Intra- and interrater reliability of subjective assessment of the drop vertical jump and tuck jump in youth athletes.

OBJECTIVES

To investigate intra- and interrater reliability of the subjective assessments of filmed DVJ and TJA in youth male and female soccer players and to compare subjective assessment of the DVJ with two-dimensional movement analysis.

DESIGN

Cross-sectional study.

PARTICIPANTS

115 soccer players (66 boys, 49 girls) mean age 14 ± 1 (range 13-16) years.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES

Knee control during landing phase of DVJ was assessed using a 3-graded scoring scale. TJA was assessed according to ten criteria using a dichotomous grading scale. Subjective assessment of DVJ was compared with calculation of normalized knee separation distance (NKSD).

RESULTS

Intrarater reliability for DVJ was substantial to almost perfect (kappa 0.72 rater 1; 0.85 rater 2). Interrater reliability was substantial to almost perfect (kappa from 0.68 to 0.83). The TJA total score intrarater reliability was ICC 0.59 for rater 1 and 0.90 for rater 2. Interrater reliability ranged from ICC 0.51 to 0.60. There were between-group differences in mean NKSD during DVJ for players rated as 0, 1 and 2, but within-group variability was large.

CONCLUSION

Assessment of DVJ and TJA in youth athletes was rater dependent. Players with subjectively assessed reduced or poor knee control had smaller normalized knee separation distance in DVJ.