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Main authors: Fernando Domínguez-Navarro, José Casaña, Borja Pérez-Domínguez, Borja Ricart-Luna, Pedro Cotolí-Suárez and Joaquín Calatayud
In basketball, lower train injuries – mostly knee and ankle ones – are the most frequent, especially for female athletes. Preventing them as well as improving the players’ functional capacity is a priority for coaches, strength and conditioning coaches, and medical staff.
The Single Leg Hop Test is one of the most common ways to assess this function by testing a person’s ability to hop on one leg and stabilise the fall. Although, which factors determine a better result in this test? Is it explosive strength, dynamic balance or even physical variables such as height or leg length?
A study conducted by the Universitat de València, the Universidad Europea de Valencia and the Valencia Basket Alqueria LAB analysed 90 elite female teen players from ages 13 to 17.
Study design
The athletes were evaluated with three main tests:
- Countermovement Jump (CMJ): to measure their explosive strength and power.
- Y Balance Test: to test their dynamic balance and posture control.
- Single Leg Hop Test: to analyse the distance reached and the reception stability in a horizontal jump.
Moreover, anthropometrical data such as size, weight and body mass index was also collected.
Main findings
- Explosive strength was the most determining factor. The CMJ results (jump height and power generated) were the most solid predictor for the athletes’ performance in the hop test.
- Dynamic balance also influenced the results, although at a lower scale. The YBT showed moderate correlations, especially in the left leg.
- Physical characteristics made no difference. Height, weight, age or leg length had no significant impact on the hop test results.
- The hop test is multifactorial. Its results do not depend only on one capacity, but in explosive strength integration, balance and neuromuscular control.
Practical applications
- For coaches: including plyometric training and balance exercises to improve physical performance and reduce injury risks.
- For strength and conditioning coaches: using the hop test alongside the CMJ and the YBT as monitoring tools during the season.
- For sports clubs and doctors: understanding that basic physical traits are not the ones that determine physical performance, but neuromuscular and function capacities are.
Conclusion: training beyond strength
This study confirms that for young elite players, their physical performance in the hop test mainly depends on explosive strength, with dynamic balance as a secondary factor.
Therefore, designing specific programmes that combine plyometric training and posture control can make the difference both in sports performance development and in injury prevention.
This investigation is part of the Chair of Basket L’Alqueria – Universitat de València which aims to apply science to the daily lives of sports clubs and athletes.
