Relationships between surrogate measures of mechanical and psychophysiological load, patellar tendon adaptations, and neuromuscular performance in NCAA division I men's volleyball athletes

Brian M Guthrie; Erica L King; Shriniwas Patwardhan; Qi Wei; Siddhartha Sikdar; Parag V Chitnis; Margaret T Jones

doi:10.3389/fspor.2023.1065470

Relationships between surrogate measures of mechanical and psychophysiological load, patellar tendon adaptations, and neuromuscular performance in NCAA division I men's volleyball athletes

Front Sports Act Living. 2023 Feb 22:5:1065470. doi: 10.3389/fspor.2023.1065470. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Brian M Guthrie¹, Erica L King^{2

3}, Shriniwas Patwardhan^{2

3}, Qi Wei², Siddhartha Sikdar^{2

3}, Parag V Chitnis^{2

3}, Margaret T Jones^{1

4}

Affiliations

¹ Patriot Performance Laboratory, Frank Pettrone Center for Sports Performance, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA, United States.
² Department of Bioengineering, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA, United States.
³ Center for Adaptive Systems of Brain-Body Interactions, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA, United States.
⁴ Sport, Recreation, and Tourism Management, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA, United States.

Abstract

Introduction: Patellar tendon adaptations occur in response to mechanical load. Appropriate loading is necessary to elicit positive adaptations with increased risk of injury and decreased performance likely if loading exceeds the capacity of the tendon. The aim of the current study was to examine intra-individual associations between workloads and patellar tendon properties and neuromuscular performance in collegiate volleyball athletes.

Methods: National Collegiate Athletics Association Division I men's volleyball athletes (n = 16, age: 20.33 ± 1.15 years, height: 193.50 ± 6.50 cm, body mass: 84.32 ± 7.99 kg, bodyfat%: 13.18 ± 4.72%) competing across 9 weeks of in-season competition participated. Daily measurements of external workloads (i.e., jump count) and internal workloads [i.e., session rating of perceived exertion (sRPE)] were recorded. Weekly measurements included neuromuscular performance assessments (i.e., countermovement jump, drop jump), and ultrasound images of the patellar tendon to evaluate structural adaptations. Repeated measures correlations (r-rm) assessed intra-individual associations among performance and patellar tendon metrics.

Results: Workload measures exhibited significant negative small to moderate (r-rm =-0.26-0.31) associations with neuromuscular performance, negative (r-rm = -0.21-0.30), and positive (r-rm = 0.20-0.32) small to moderate associations with patellar tendon properties.

Discussion: Monitoring change in tendon composition and performance adaptations alongside workloads may inform evidence-based frameworks toward managing and reducing the risk of the development of patellar tendinopathy in collegiate men's volleyball athletes.

Keywords: injury; jumps; tendinopathy; ultrasound; workload.

Grants and funding

This research was supported by the National Strength and Conditioning Association Foundation grant GRD-2021-02. Additional support was provided in part by the NSF grant DGE: 1922598.