Date of Award
8-2026
Degree Type
Honors College Thesis
Academic Program
Kinesiology BS
Department
Kinesiology
First Advisor
Dr. Tanner Thorsen
Advisor Department
Human Performance and Recreation; Kinesiology
Abstract
Jumping is a skill essential to several different sports, including dance. For athletes in jump-dominant sports, jump strategies can vary with differences in task demands while jump performances are similar. The countermovement jump (CMJ) has been utilized to analyze jumps because of their reliable indications of power and neuromuscular function. Methods of describing jump strategies using CMJ, such as force plate metrics, vector coding analysis, and coordination phases, have been used to describe the jumps of athletes in jump dominant sports such as basketball and volleyball. However, less jump strategy research has been done on dancers, especially to describe the jump takeoff phase. Using vector coding, coupling angle mapping, and force plate metrics, this study observed the CMJ of Dancers and Nondancers to qualitatively compare their jump takeoff strategies. We observed 15 Dancers and 15 Nondancers perform five countermovement jumps on force plates and recorded them using a markerless motion camera system. Dancers and Nondancers demonstrated similar thigh and shank limb segment rotations, though Nondancers exhibited greater thigh rotation at the transition between the unweighting and braking phases. Dancers executed significantly higher jumps (p = 0.033), shorter braking duration (p=0.012), shorter time to takeoff (p = 0.002), and greater RSImod (p = 0.009). Additionally, while Dancers and Nondancers demonstrated the same phase transitions on average throughout their jump takeoff, Dancers executed the unweighting phase and braking phase faster than Nondancers. Coordination pattern similarities between the groups may indicate a biomechanical constraint on limb coordination; however, differences in the timing of phase transitions may come from training that refines neuromuscular control and efficiency of transitions.
Copyright
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Recommended Citation
Joseph, Danielle, "Comparison of Lower-Extremity Coordination Patterns During Countermovement Jumps Between Dancers and Nondancers" (2026). Honors Theses. 1149.
https://aquila.usm.edu/honors_theses/1149