1. By: Sadie Whaley Advisor: Jeff Vossen Co-Advisor: Angie Kolen October 30 th, 2013

2. Agenda Introduction Literature Review Purpose Methods Procedure Tests

3. Introduction Plyometrics are exercises used to increase power in athletes (Fatourors, 2000) Power – amount of work a muscle can produce per unit of time (Adams, O’Shea, O’Shea & Climstein, 1992) Plyometric exercises are characterized by a rapid lengthening of the muscle followed immediately by a shortening muscle action (Miller, Herniman, Ricard, Cheatham & Michael, 2006) Depth Jumps are continually used in plyometric studies (Flanagan, Ebben & Jensen, 2008) Elite hockey training often uses plyometrics for strength and increasing speed (Ebben, Carroll & Simenz, 2004)

4. Agility and Hockey During hockey games, players are continually stopping, starting and changing direction Agility – ability to maintain and control correct body position while quickly changing direction through a series of movements (Yap & Brown, 2000) Important skill in hockey – NHL Strength & Conditioning Coaches use this in training and testing (Ebben, Carroll & Simenz, 2004) Power gained through plyometrics could improve agility as changing direction in an explosive manner requires a high force output (Asadi, 2012) If plyometrics are already used to train to increase power, do they have an affect on any other skills?

5. Literature Review

6. Purpose The main objective of this study is to determine if a depth jump training program increase’s individuals agility and vertical jump

7. Hypothesis I hypothesize that a depth jump training program will increase the subjects agility and vertical jump height.

8. Subjects 10 – 15 Female St. FX Varsity Hockey athletes No prior plyometric training required No initiation of new lower body training regimen Participation is voluntary and based on recruitment through Head Coach, David Synishin

9. Methodology Pre-tests will be performed following Research Ethics Board approval and completion of Consent forms by participants Training program will be initiated in second semester Post-tests will be performed within a week of completion of the training program to ensure benefits are still present

10. Training Session Protocol 6 weeks of training with 2 sessions per week Warm up: 5 minutes on stationary bike Dynamic stretches Training: Depth Jump Intensity based on week protocol (See next slide) Cool Down: 2 minutes on stationary bike followed by static stretches

11. Training Portion Entire training portion consists of depth jump 15 second rest between repetitions 3 minute rest between sets (Read & Cisar, 2001) Week 1: Focus is familiarization (Gehri et al, 1998) Week 2-6: Focus on proper technique and power production

12. Depth Jump Subjects will be instructed to step off a 40 cm box, land and perform a maximal vertical jump while minimizing contact time. (Thomas, French & Hayes, 2009)

13. Testing Warm-up prior to testing 5 minute stationary cycling Dynamic Stretches 2 Practice trials for each test then record Illinois Agility Test T-Test Jump Height Test Cool-down post testing Stationary Bike Static stetching

14. Illinois Agility Test Dimensions will be measured using open reel long dimension tape measure Light sensor stop-watches at start and finish gate to ensure accuracy Observer at far line to ensure subjects reach the end Considered standard test in agility (Sheppard & Young, 2006)

15. T-Test (Miller, Herniam, Ricard, Cheatham & Michael, 2006) Dimensions measured using open reel tape measure Laser stop watch at start and finish to ensure accuracy

16. Vertical Jump Complete vertical jump on force plate Force plate measures impulse which can be used to calculate vertical jump height Force plate – PasPort 2-Axis Force Platform Model No, PS-2142 Data imported to Microsoft excel

17. Statistical Analysis 2 X 3 Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) with Repeated Measures using SPSS Version 15.0.1 Dependent Variables: -Pre-test - Post-test Independent Variables: - Illinois Agility Test - T-Test - Vertical Max

18. Acknowledgements Jeff Vossen Angie Kolen Graham Kennedy St FX Human Kinetics Department

19. Questions