Test–retest reliability and sensitivity of horizontal jump inter-limb asymmetry in youth soccer players across maturity stages
PLOS ONE, cilt.21, sa.6 June, 2026 (SCI-Expanded, Scopus)
- Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
- Cilt numarası: 21 Sayı: 6 June
- Basım Tarihi: 2026
- Doi Numarası: 10.1371/journal.pone.0341344
- Dergi Adı: PLOS ONE
- Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), Scopus, L'Année philologique, Aerospace Database, BIOSIS, Chemical Abstracts Core, EMBASE, Index Islamicus, Linguistic Bibliography, MEDLINE, Psycinfo, zbMATH, Directory of Open Access Journals, Zoological Record, Academic Search Ultimate (EBSCO), Natural Science Collection (ProQuest), Biological Science Database (ProQuest), Biomedical Reference Collection: Corporate Edition (EBSCO), Health Research Premium Collection (ProQuest), Materials Science & Engineering Collection (ProQuest), Pharma Collection (ProQuest), Technology Collection (ProQuest)
- Açık Arşiv Koleksiyonu: AVESİS Açık Erişim Koleksiyonu
- Atatürk Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet
Özet
The present study examined the test–retest reliability and sensitivity of inter-limb asymmetry derived from the single-leg hop test (SLHT) across different maturity stages in young male soccer players. Sixty-four youth soccer players aged 8–16 years participated in this study and were assessed using the SLHT to quantify interlimb asymmetry. Participants were divided into prepubertal (n = 34; age: 8.1 ± 1.4 years; body mass: 35.7 ± 3.4 kg; height: 122 ± 9 cm; maturity offset: −2.38 ± 0.83 years) and post-pubertal groups (n = 30; age: 16.5 ± 0.3 years; body mass: 39.6 ± 6.1 kg; height: 154 ± 7 cm; maturity offset: 1.17 ± 0.45 years) according to individual peak height velocity. During the SLHT, participants performed maximal horizontal hops on each leg separately, and the greatest distance achieved was recorded for analysis. Inter-limb asymmetry demonstrated good relative reliability in both groups, with intraclass correlation coefficients of 0.78 and 0.92 for the prepubertal and post-pubertal groups, respectively. Absolute reliability was also acceptable, as the typical error of measurement was < 5% in both groups. Sensitivity analysis showed that the standard error of measurement (SEM) exceeded the smallest worthwhile change (SWC; 0.2 standard deviations) in the prepubertal group, indicating a marginal ability to detect small performance changes. In contrast, the SEM was lower than the SWC in the post-pubertal group, indicating good sensitivity for detecting small changes in performance. These findings indicate that SLHT-derived inter-limb asymmetry scores demonstrate acceptable reliability in youth soccer players across maturity stages, while sensitivity to detect small changes may differ between prepubertal and post-pubertal players. The results contribute to the methodological understanding of inter-limb asymmetry assessment in youth soccer and may assist practitioners and researchers in interpreting asymmetry data across different stages of maturation.