Can We Improve The Bosco Test? A Biomechanical Analysis

Abstract

PURPOSE: To compare average power output (APO) results as calculated directly fro m instantaneous vertical ground reaction forces (IVGRFs), with the Bosco Test APO. METHODS: 18 sedentary adult males (21.6±2.4 years, 67.2±11.3 kg, 1.77±0.05 m), 6 volleyball players (22.0±3.4 years, 72.3±12.5 kg, 1.8 4±0.10 m), 6 marathon runners (30.8±7.7 years, 73.2±11.0 kg, 1.75±0.05 m), and 6 swimmers (32.2±6.91 years, 78.8±4.6 kg, 1.77±0.06 m) performed a 60 s Bosco Test on a Force Plate. Total time in the air, total number of jumps, and IVGRFs were recorded from the force plate signal. APO (Watts/kg) was calculated from ‘efficient’ IVGRF using both the conventional Bosco methodology and PotevAA, our proposed method, for the same trials. Two-way ANOVAs with repeated measures were used to compare APO for the different groups and between methods.