Leg power among malaysian netball players

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to compare the leg power among Malaysian national netball players according to their age and playing position. The Vertical Jump Test was chosen to measure the leg power by using “Digital Indication Jump Meter” device. The results of the Vertical Jump Test were used to compare the leg power among the subjects in this study and other studies. The subjects in this study were fifty-two (52) Malaysian national netball players who had been chosen to participate in phases one and two training sessions for the 1998 Milo Malaysia-Singapore Games (Mean age=19.12 + 3.29 years old, mean for height=166.74 + 6.43cm, and mean body mass=58.29 + 6.87kg). The subjects were divided into two groups. The first group consisted of players who were under 17, 19, 21, and above 21-years of age. All the subjects in the above 21-years old category were selected to represent Malaysia at the 11th Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur. The second group was formed according to the subjects' playing positions, i.e. attacking, center, and defending positions. The Malaysian Netball Association approved this study and written consent was obtained from all the players prior to the testing. The results showed significant difference in leg power among Malaysian national netball players in the different age groups F=(2,49)=6.14, p<0.01. Overall, the above 21-year old netball players had the highest leg power score, followed by those under 17, 21, and 19 years, respectively. The finding for the leg power test showed that there was no significant difference in the leg power of Malaysian national netball players in different playing positions. The defensive players had the highest leg power, followed by the attacking and center players. The overall result showed that the Malaysian national netball players had higher leg power compared to other netball players as indicated by Hooper et al., (1995), and Schweigert (1996). However, due to the height limitation of the Malaysian national netball players, they could not jump higher than these netball players who were much taller.


(Af. J. for Physical, Health Education, Recreation and Dance: 2003 9 (1): 32-39)