Single-leg jump test to determine the return to sport
The one-legged jump upwards on the spot (vertical jump) and the one-legged jump forwards (horizontal jump) do not measure the same!
The correlation between these two functional tests is only 0.63 – 0.71.
That’s why we at Physio Restart attach so much importance to knowing exactly when we use which jump test and which exercise in practice.
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Single-leg jumps are a good indicator for assessing biomechanics during multi-directional, sport-specific activities, among other things. However, they alone do not determine return to sport!
We can use jumps to assess your explosiveness and leg axis stability during rehabilitation in everyday clinical practice. It also makes sense for our team support on the sidelines to use these two core competencies after certain lower limb injuries in order to avoid returning to competition too early. Nevertheless, we also assess psychological readiness and muscle strength, because only then is our decision reliable.
The one-legged forward jump in particular is often used by physiotherapists in the later rehabilitation phase to make a statement about the function of the knee. Although this jump is easier to measure, document and compare , the knee joint is actually much less involved in the take-off and acceleration phase and therefore only contributes 1/3 to the result (jump distance achieved).
If we compare these two one-legged jumps with each other, we can see relevant differences in terms of the force involved in the joints. To what extent are the hip, knee and ankle joints involved in these jumps? Male, healthy subjects were examined in a cross-sectional cohort study at the Aspetar Orthopaedic Sports Clinic in Qatar . In percentage terms, the following data was obtained with regard to force involvement:
Long jump:
Jump off:
Hip 44% Knee 13% Foot 43%
Landing:
Hip 24% Knee 65% Foot 11.4%
High jump:
Jump off:
Hip 31% Knee 34% Foot 34%
Landing:
Hip 29% Knee 34% Foot 37%
Kotsifaki et al. 2021
So is our statement “you are ready to return to sport because your difference in distance has improved in the one-legged long jump” unspecific?
We can only answer this question with YES. There are other publications that support this. For example, Zarro et al. had athletes perform both tests 7.33 ± 2.05 months after an ACL injury and concluded that the vertical jump still showed deficits in knee function that the horizontal jump could not determine. In addition, symmetry in the distance jumped does not mean symmetry in muscle strength.
Conclusion: The one-legged long jump is mainly used to assess the functional hip and ankle joint ability, the one-legged high jump has significance for all three joints. Due to insufficient involvement of the knee in the one-legged long jump, further tests should be added to determine your knee joint performance and thus your return to sport.
Thanks to @aspetar for these study results, generated in March 2019.
The very low number of participants in this study population, which is also only male, is worth mentioning!
Author:
Anneke Penny
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References:
1.Hamilton, RT, Shultz, SJ, Schmitz, RJ, Perrin, DH. Triple-hop distance as a valid predictor of lower limb strength and power. J Athl Train. 2008;43:144-151.
2.Taylor, JB, Ford, KR, Nguyen, AD, Shultz, SJ. Biomechanical comparison of single- and double-leg jump landings in the sagittal and frontal plane. Orthop J Sports Med. 2016;4:2325967116655158.
3.Kotsifaki A, Korakakis V, Graham-Smith P, Sideris V, Whiteley R. Vertical and Horizontal Hop Performance: Contributions of the Hip, Knee, and Ankle. Sports Health. 2021 Mar;13(2):128-135.
4.Zarro MJ, Stitzlein MG, Lee JS, et al. Single-Leg Vertical Hop Test Detects Greater Limb Asymmetries Than Horizontal Hop Tests After Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction in NCAA Division 1 Collegiate Athletes. IJSPT. 2021;16(6):1405-1414.
