Visual kinematic feedback enhances velocity, power, motivation and competitiveness in adolescent female athletes

Weakley, J, Wilson, K, Till, K, Read, D ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6367-0261, Scantlebury, S, Sawczuk, T, Neenan, C and Jones, B (2019) Visual kinematic feedback enhances velocity, power, motivation and competitiveness in adolescent female athletes. Journal of Australian Strength and Conditioning, 27 (3). pp. 16-22. ISSN 1835-7644

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Abstract

The provision of instantaneous visual kinematic feedback has been shown to improve physical performance and psychological traits. However, this research has only investigated changes across a single set of exercise in adolescent males. Therefore, the aim of this study was to assess the effects of visual kinematic feedback on kinematic outputs during multiple sets of the jump squat in adolescent female athletes. In addition, motivation and competitiveness were also assessed. Eleven adolescent female athletes volunteered to take part in this study. In a randomised-crossover study design, subjects either were or were not provided peak concentric velocity using visual feedback during three sets of six repetitions of the jump squat. A linear position transducer measured peak concentric velocity of each repetition across the three sets, while motivation and competitiveness were measured before and after exercise. Magnitude-based inferences were used to assess changes between conditions, with mean peak concentric velocity (mean ±90%CI: 0.23 ±0.04m·s-1; ES ±90%CI: 2.73 ±0.44; percent ±90%CI: 10.3 ±1.8) and power (mean ±90%CI: 330 ±53W; ES ±90%CI: 2.87 ±0.52; percent ±90%CI: 16.5 ±3.2) almost certainly greater when feedback was provided. Furthermore, motivation almost certainly improved (ES ±90%CI: 2.81 ±0.63) when feedback was provided, while competitiveness was almost certainly greater (ES ±90%CI: 4.88 ±0.58) following the provision of kinematic feedback. Findings from this study demonstrate that providing adolescent female athletes visual kinematic information while completing plyometric exercise is beneficial for performance and can enhance psychological responses across multiple sets. Consequently, practitioners are advised to utilise kinematic feedback during training to enhance training quality and improve motivation and competitiveness.