Purpose: There is uncertainty as to which knee angle during a squat jump (SJ) produces maximal jump performance. Importantly, understanding this information will aid in determining appropriate ratios for assessment and monitoring of the explosive characteristics of athletes.
Method: This study compared SJ performance across different knee angles-90º, 100º, 110º, 120º, 130º, and a self-selected depth-for jump height and other kinetic characteristics. For comparison between SJ and an unconstrained dynamic movement, participants also performed a countermovement jump from a self-selected depth. Thirteen participants (Mage = 25.4 ± 3.5 years, Mheight = 1.8 ± 0.06 m, Mweight = 79.8 ± 9.5 kg) were recruited and tested for their SJ performance.
Results: In the SJ, maximal jump height (35.4 ± 4.6 cm) was produced using a self-selected knee angle (98.7 ± 11.2°). Differences between 90°, 100°, and self-selected knee angles for jump height were trivial (ES ± 90% CL = 90°-100° 0.23 ± 0.12, 90°-SS -0.04 ± 0.12, 100°-SS -0.27 ± 0.20; 0.5-2.4 cm) and not statistically different. Differences between all other knee angles for jump height ranged from 3.8 ± 2.0 cm (mean ± 90% CL) to 16.6 ± 2.2 cm. A similar outcome to jump height was observed for velocity, force relative to body weight, and impulse for the assessed knee angles.
Conclusions: For young physically active adult men, the use of a self-selected depth in the SJ results in optimal performance and has only a trivial difference to a constrained knee angle of either 90° or 100°.
Keywords: Concentric-only jump; knee angle; relative net impulse; squat depth.