Resumen de Countermovement Jump and Drop Jump Performances Are Related to Grand Jete Leap Performance in Dancers With Different Skill Levels

Penelope Blanco, Sophia Nimphius, Laurent B. Seitz, Tania Spiteri, G. Gregory Haff

• Thirty-five classical ballet dancers were chosen to investigate relationships between the grand jete leap, countermovement jump (CMJ), and drop jump (DJ) and establish whether the magnitude of the relationship between these tests differed across 3 skill levels. Subjects (male: n = 11 and female: n = 24) were divided into 3 groups: novice (n = 12; age: 16.6 +/- 1.5 years; height: 1.7 +/- 0.1 m; body mass: 58.0 +/- 13.0 kg), semiprofessional (n = 13; age: 20.0 +/- 1.6 years; height: 1.7 +/- 0.1 m; body mass: 64.1 +/- 10.5 kg), and professional (n = 10; age: 23.8 +/- 3.5 years; height: 1.8 +/- 1.2 m; body mass: 63.3 +/- 14.7 kg). Grand jete leap height, followed by CMJ and DJ vertical displacement, was assessed. Significant relationships were found between the grand jete, CMJ (r = 0.77, p = 0.001) and DJ (r = 0.76, p = 0.001). After a Fisher's r-z transformation, professional dancers and novice dancers showed greater r-value differences in CMJ (r2 - r1 = 0.27) compared with novice (r2 - r1 = 0.17) and semiprofessional dancers (r2 - r1 = 0.11), indicating larger strength of CMJ to grand jete relationship in professionals. The grand jete leap showed large to very large correlations with CMJ and DJ within groups. These common performance tests were determined to be practical and efficient methods for assessing the jumping ability of dancers. As dance skill increased, larger correlations were observed, suggesting that dancers with superior ballet skills may be more likely to use their underpinning physical capacities to jump higher within the context of ballet-specific jumping.