Association between power and change of direction in men's college volleyball

In volleyball, the power in the lower extremities is decisive for performance in actions such as spikes, blocks and jump serve. But, in addition, for actions that require agility, such as Change of Direction (COD). The objective of this study was to examine the association between Squat Jump (SJ) power, countermovement (CMJ) power, and SJ-CMJ difference (SJ-CMJdif) and COD in college volleyball players. In the cross-sectional study, with a correlational scope, 12 players executed the SJ, CMJ and two COD tests (T-Test, 5-0-5 Test). The power (Watts) of the SJ or the CMJ did not correlate with the COD. However, SJ height (r= -0.58, p=.04) and CMJ height (r= -0.69, p=.01) had a negative and large correlation with the T-Test, but not with the 5-0-5 Test. In the same way, the SJ-CMJdif had a negative and large correlation with the T-Test (r= -0.61, p=.03), but not with the 5-0-5. The results support the usefulness of the SJ and the CMJ for the control of power in the lower limbs, highlight the specificity of the T-Test for the evaluation of the COD in Volleyball and the utility of the elastic potential in the actions of acceleration and decelerations, evaluated using the SJ-CMJdif.