The Association Between Sprint Speed Test and Isokinetic Knee Strength in Healthy Male Volleyball Players

Volleyball is a sport with technical elements and explosive power.

This study investigates the relationship between sprint speed and isokinetic knee strength applied at different angular velocities in male volleyball players.

This study was conducted on 15 volunteer male volleyball players (age; 17 - 25 years, height; 1.75 + 0.12 m). Isomedx 2002 isokinetic dynamometer is employed to measure the isokinetic strength, and a 20 m sprint test is conducted to measure the speed. In measuring knee flexion and isokinetic extension strength, quadriceps and hamstring concentric/eccocentric are measured separately on both legs at 60°/sec angular velocity for three repetitions, at 180°/sec for six repetitions, and at 300°/sec for nine repetitions. For statistical analysis, the Spearman’s correlation test was performed using SPSS 18.0 (SPSS Inc., USA) software.

The highest torque value in subjects was recorded on both sides at 60°/sec angular velocity, 180 and 300 degrees, respectively, were lower. There was no significant relationship between speed and isokinetic strength at different angular velocities.

Based on our results, the highest peak torque in volleyball players was found to be at 60°/sec angular velocity while no significant correlation was found between isokinetic strength of the knee at different angular velocities and speed of volleyball players.