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Acute Effect of Mini-Trampoline Jumping on Vertical Jump and Balance Performance
Nada Rhouni1, Nicole C. Dabbs2*, Trevor Gillum1, Jared W. Coburn3
1California Baptist University, 8432 Magnolia Ave, Riverside, CA 92504
2California State University, San Bernardino, 5500 University Parkway, San Bernardino, CA 92407
3California State University, Fullerton, 800 N. State College Blvd., Fullerton, CA 92834-6870
Corresponding Author: Nicole C. Dabbs, E-mail: ndabbs@csusb.edu
ABSTRACT
Background: Jumping and balance are necessary skills for most athletes, and mini-trampoline
training has been shown to improve them. Little is known about the acute effect of mini-
trampoline jumping on jump performance and dynamic balance. Objectives: The purpose of this
study is to investigate the effect of 6 maximal jumps on a mini-trampoline on countermovement
vertical jump (CMVJ) variables and on balance parameters. Methods: Twenty one recreationally
trained individuals participated in three testing sessions and were either allocated to a control
group (N=10) or a trampoline group (N=11). All the participants performed a dynamic warm
up prior to their assessments. Baseline CMVJ and balance assessments were measured. For the
jump performance tests, the control group rested for 30s, and the trampoline group performed
6 maximal CMVJs on a mini-trampoline. Immediately following the trampoline jumps or the
rest period, participants performed three jump trials. The jumping protocol was repeated every
minute up to 5 minutes and balance was reassessed immediately after only. Results: There was
no signicant interaction of time by group and no group effects in all the jumping parameters,
however, there was a signicant increase in jump height (p <0.001) post-condition, and a
signicant decrease in peak power (p= 0.01) at the 4th minute for both groups. There was no
signicant interaction of time by condition, no time effect and no group effect (p>0.05) on
the balance variables. Conclusion: These results do not support our hypothesis and show that
trampoline jumping does not improve jump and balance performance acutely.
Key words: Warm-up, Trampoline Exercise, Athletes, Recreationally, Plyometric Exercise
INTRODUCTION
Jumping is a crucial part of many sports, and the improve-
ment of jumping performance has been largely studied. The
success of some game-like technical actions in many sports
such as basketball, soccer, and volleyball is strongly related
to the jumping performance of athletes in terms of height and
speed (Ortega, Rodríguez Bíes, & Berral de la Rosa, 2010;
Umberger, 1998; Sauls & Dabbs, 2017). The vertical jump
test is also used to assess athletes abilities, to distinguish their
strengths and weaknesses, and to identify the effectiveness
of their trainings (Hara, Shibayama, Takeshita, & Fukashiro,
2006). Plyometric training and repetitive jumping have been
shown to be effective to improve vertical jumping in many
sports (Bobbert & Van Soest, 1994; Markovic, 2007). How-
ever, it involves exercises that lead to high impact forces re-
sulting from landing, which may increase the risk of injury
in the lower body (Chu, 1998; Dufek & Bates, 1991; Lyttle,
Wilson, & Ostrowski, 1996).
In addition to jumping, balance is also an important skill
in many sports. It is dened as the capacity to conserve the
body’s gravity line with a least deviation on the base of
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support (Shumway-Cook, Anson, & Haller, 1988). Dynamic
balance consist of minimizing the body sway or recovering
posture after a disturbance (D. Winter, 1995). The American
College of Sport Medicine includes balance training in its
“physical activity guidelines” and considers it as a skill-re-
lated component of physical tness (“Advanced Fitness As-
sessment and Exercise Prescription, Seventh Edition With
Online Video,” 2014). It is considered as a coordinative
characteristic that is necessary for daily simple activities, but
also for learning and performing the rapid position change
movements that are required by many sports (Atilgan, 2013;
Vuillerme et al., 2001), especially those that require com-
plex motor skills like gymnastics (31). The ability to reduce
the body sway is an important skill to develop not only by
athletes, but also by other populations such as the elderly, as
balance has been shown to decrease the risk of falls (Aragão,
Karamanidis, Vaz, & Arampatzis, 2011).
According to many studies, mini-trampoline programs not
only decrease the trauma of landing (Dufek & Bates, 1991)
but are also effective in the improvement of jump height
(Atilgan, 2013; Karakollukçu, Aslan, Paoli, Bianco, & Sahin,
ARTICLE INFO
Article history
Received: January 15, 2019
Accepted: March 10, 2019
Published: April 30, 2019
Volume: 7 Issue: 2
Conicts of interest: None
Funding: None
International Journal of Kinesiology & Sports Science
ISSN: 2202-946X
www.ijkss.aiac.org.au
2 IJKSS 7(2):1-7
2015; Ross & Hudson, 1997; Şahin et al., 2016) and balance
by stimulating proprioceptors and sensory motor control via
adaptation to the trampoline’s unstable surface (Hahn, Shin,
& Lee, 2015; Heitkamp, Horstmann, Mayer, Weller, & Dick-
huth, 2001). Kidgell et. al found that trampoline training sig-
nicantly affected the postural sway in athletes, resulting in an
improvement in balance and stability. This improvement was
thought to be due to the enhancement of muscle endurance and
the ankles complex muscles’ reaction time (Kidgell, Horvath,
Jackson, & Seymour, 2007). Heitkam et al. showed that includ-
ing a mini-trampoline in a balance circuit training led to a bet-
ter balance performance after only 6 weeks (Heitkamp et al.,
2001). Further, a repetitive jumping program on a trampoline
caused an improvement of balance due to a reduced forward
translation in the jump (Ross & Hudson, 1997), and accord-
ing to Marquez et.al, many athletes include trampoline in their
practice to improve their balance (Márquez et al., 2010).
According to what was mentioned previously, mini- tram-
poline training may enhance balance and jump performance
and can lead to the improvement of athletic performance.
However, it is noteworthy that most studies on trampoline
jumping focused on the long-term effects of trampoline
training, when there has been little research on its effect
acutely (Márquez et al., 2010). If trampoline jumping pres-
ents immediate benets in terms of jump performance and
balance, it may be an efcient exercise to include for a short-
term preparation (e.g. warm-up). According to the principle
of specicity, a specic warm up for the vertical jump would
be to perform a countermovement vertical jump (CMVJ)
(Burkett, Phillips, & Ziuraitis, 2005). Therefore, practicing
jumps on a trampoline might present more specicity than
other forms of dynamic warm up for sports that require ver-
tical jumping, and may be easily transferred to competitive
situations. Among the few studies that investigated the acute
inuence of landing surfaces on the kinematics of jumping,
a study showed reduced joint range of motion during the ec-
centric phase of the countermovement jump, which results in
a reduced loss of elasticity that allows the stretch shortening
cycle mechanism to generate a greater maximum leg power
during jumping (Crowther, Spinks, Leicht, & Spinks, 2007).
Due to the lack of literature investigating acute mini-tram-
poline jumping on balance and vertical jump performance,
we hypothesize that performing jumps on a trampoline will
acutely improve balance variables, including Overall Stabil-
ity Index (SI), Anterior-posterior Stability Index (API), and
Medial-Lateral Stability Index (MLI), and increase the coun-
termovement vertical jump variables, including Jump Height
(JH), Peak Force (PF), Peak Velocity (PV), Peak Power (PP),
and Rate of Force Development (RFD). Therefore, the pur-
pose of the study is to investigate the immediate effect of
trampoline jumping on vertical jump performance and dy-
namic balance in recreationally trained males and females.
METHODS
Participants and Design
An experimental study design was used to compare a
mini-trampoline group to a control group (that did not jump
on a trampoline) when assessing CMVJ performance and
dynamic balance. The CMVJ performance was used in a re-
peated measures design to re-assess CMVJ performance at
baseline, immediately post intervention, and every minute
up to 5 minutes. Dynamic balance used a mix-factor analysis
to compare pre and post intervention between groups.
Twenty-one recreationally trained individuals (males= 14
and females= 7, age: 23 ± 2, height: 170.7 ± 9.3 cm, body
mass: 70.1 ± 11.1 kg) volunteered to participate in three lab
sessions separated by at least 24 hours. One participant did
not attend the balance condition, resulting in a sample size of
20 for the balance measures. The participants were recruited
from a university via classroom recruitment, campus adver-
tisement via yers, and verbal recruitment. Recreationally
trained subjects were dened as individuals who have been
participating in endurance or resistance training, or a combi-
nation of both, three times per week for at least the last six
months. Individuals reporting any lower body musculoskel-
etal injury within the last six months were excluded from
the experiment. All participants were asked to refrain from
any physical activity at least 24 hours prior to their visits
and were instructed to wear comfortable clothes and athletic
shoes. Prior to their participation to the research study, all
participants were required to read and sign an informed con-
sent approved by the university Institutional Review Board
(IRB).
Experimental Procedures
First visit
During the rst visit, the participants read and signed the
IRB approved informed consent document and completed
the Physical Activity Readiness Questionnaire (PAR-Q) and
health history questionnaire. After verifying they did not
present the exclusionary criteria, their anthropometrics (age,
height, weight) were measured. Subjects then performed a
dynamic warm-up that included: 2 sets of 15 meters of jogs,
high knees, exaggerated lunges, walking Frankensteins, and
leg swings for 30s on (both sides, and forward-backward).
Following that, they were familiarized with the testing
procedures and equipment, which includes jumping on the
ground and on the mini-trampoline, using the Vertec® (oor
model) and balance assessment using the Biodex Balance
System SD (Balance System ™ SD, Shirley, NY, USA).
Second visit
During the second visit, the participants completed a 24-hour
history questionnaire to conrm that they did not exercise 24
hours prior to the test session and that they maintained a nor-
mal diet and normal sleep. Participants were randomly allo-
cated to either a control group (CG) or a trampoline group
(TG) before continuing.
Participants performed three maximal CMVJ on an AMTI
force plate (Advanced Mechanical Technology, Inc., Water-
town, BP 600900-1000) with 15s rest between each jump. PP,
PV, PF and RFD were recorded and calculated by a custom-
ized LabView instruments code for all jumps. Participant’s
Acute Effect of Mini-Trampoline Jumping on Vertical Jump and Balance Performance 3
vertical jump height was measured using the Vertec Vertical
Jump Tester (sports imports), that was considered a visual tar-
get by the participants. The difference between the fully ex-
tended standing reach height and the maximal vertical jump
was calculated for analysis. The standing reach height was
measured by having each subject stand in front of the Vertec
jumping device, walk while keeping the heels on the oor,
and reach upward to move the device’s vanes. To perform
the CMVJ, the subjects were instructed to stand with the feet
apart, bend at the knees and hips quickly, and jump vertically
and explosively as high as possible with an arm swing.
Following baseline measurements, the CG rested for 30s,
and the TG performed 6 maximal CMVJs on a mini-tram-
poline (Sport Plus Fitness Trampoline, diameter 110 cm,
jumping pad surface diameter: 84 cm), and were instructed to
jump as high as possible during the time period. Immediate-
ly following the trampoline jumps or the rest period, partic-
ipants performed three jump trials with 15s rest between the
jumps. The jumping protocol was repeated every minute up
to 5 minutes. Post measurements and CMVJ measures were
reassessed, including JH, PP, PV, PF, and RFD. The maxi-
mum values of the three jump heights obtained were used for
the data analysis. All the CMVJ were performed on a force
plate sampled at a rate of 1600 Hz. The force plate was ze-
roed prior to having participants perform the CMVJs on it.
Consequently, the force values measured include body mass.
Third visit
During the third visit, the participants completed a 24-hour
history questionnaire to conrm that they did not exercise
24 hours prior to the test session and that they maintained a
normal diet and normal sleep hours. Participants performed
a dynamic warm up followed by a baseline balance assess-
ment. Participants were then randomly allocated to either
a CG or a TG. The CG rested for 30s, and their balance
was re-assessed. The TG performed 6 maximal jumps on a
trampoline and their balance was re-assessed immediately
after. The Biodex Balance System SD (950-440) was used
to assess the participants double leg (DL) sway during un-
stable conditions (level 4) without shoes by tracking the
displacement of the center of pressure for 20 seconds, three
times, with 10 seconds of rest in between. The Overall Sta-
bility Index (SI), Anterior-Posterior Stability Index (API)
and Medial Lateral Stability Index (MLI) were recorded
for analysis.
Formulas
SI represents the variance of foot platform displacement in
degrees, during the whole test duration.
SI =−+ −
∑∑
()
()00
3
22
XY
API represents the variance of foot platform displace-
ment in degrees in the sagittal plane:
API=−
∑()
0
3
2
Y
MLI represents the variance of foot platform displace-
ment in degrees in the frontal plane.
MLI=−
∑()
0
3
2
X
Statistical Analysis
All statistical analysis was performed through the use of a sta-
tistical package for social sciences-24 (SPSS-24). An Alpha
level of 0.05 was used to determine statistical signicance in
all comparisons. A 2x7 (group x time) mix-factorial analysis
of variance (ANOVA) was used to determine the differences
across the time and groups for each jumping variable, which
include JH, PP, PV, PF, and RFD. A least signicant differ-
ence (LSD) post hoc analysis was performed to determine
time effects, if needed. A 2x2 (time x condition) mix-facto-
rial ANOVA was used to determine the differences between
pre and post conditions and between groups for each balance
variable, which include SI, API, and MLI.
RESULTS
CMVP Performance
There was no signicant interaction of time by group (p >
0.05), and no group effect for all the variables JH, PF, PV,
PP, RFD. Also, there was no signicant time effect in PF, PV
and RFD.
However, there was a signicant increase in JH (p <0.001)
for all the time points post-condition compared to baseline
values, and a signicant decrease in PP (p= 0.018, p < 0.05)
at the 4th minute for both groups (Figure 1). The data for all
jumping variables was represented as mean ± SD in Table 1.
Balance Performance
There was no signicant interaction of time by condition
(p> 0.05) for the variables Overall Stability Index (p= 0.28,
Anterior-Posterior Stability Index (p= 0.62) and Medial
Lateral Stability Index (p= 0.09). There was no signicant
time effect (p> 0.05) for Overall Stability Index (p= 0.79),
Anterior-Posterior Stability Index (p= 0.76) and Medial Lat-
eral Stability Index (p=0.94). Also, there was no signicant
group effect (p> 0.05) for Overall Stability Index (p= 0.55),
Anterior-Posterior Stability Index (p= 0.44) and Medial Lat-
eral Stability Index (p= 0.44). These results do not support
out hypothesis. A high balance score indicates that there was
high movement during the balance test. Results are shown
in Table 2.
SI = Overall Stability Index; API = Anterior-Posterior
Stability Index; MLI = Medial Lateral Stability Index. Tram-
poline group (N=10); Control group (N=10).
DISCUSSION
CMVJ Performance
It was hypothesized that trampoline jumping would have a
signicant effect on JH, PF, PV, PP, and RFD, however, there
4 IJKSS 7(2):1-7
were no signicant difference in the CMVJ variables between
the control and the trampoline groups. There was a signicant
time effect on JH and PP, as JH increased signicantly im-
mediately post-condition for both groups, and PP decreased
signicantly on the 4th minute for both groups (p<0.05).
Jumping ability is a crucial skill that affects performance
in many sports (Crowther et al., 2007). Improving vertical
jump performance has been investigated by many scientists
and coaches and is still of great interest for researchers, as
improving vertical jump performance with a reduced risk
of injury is one of the most sought-after objectives for ath-
letes (Tran, Brown, Coburn, Lynn, & Dabbs, 2012). Verti-
cal jump has also been used by coaches and practitioners
to assess athletes maximal force and power output (Artea-
ga, Dorado, Chavarren, & Calbet, 2000; Hara et al., 2006).
Plyometric exercises that include many jumping variations
improve the stretch-shortening cycle (SSC) phenomenon
and have been shown to improve jumping height and veloc-
ity (Crowther et al., 2007; Markovic, 2007; Ross & Hudson,
1997), however, repetitive vertical ground reaction forces
generated from landing can lead to injury (Crowther et al.,
2007; Dufek & Bates, 1991; Ortega et al., 2010). Those
forces may be 2.5 times higher than those found in running
conditions (Cavanagh & Lafortune, 1980). Researchers
have investigated methods to decrease those high landing
forces, and the use of mini-trampolines has been shown
to be an efcient way to reduce landing forces caused by
jumping (Dufek & Bates, 1991).
Table 1. Countermovement Vertical Jump Data
Variable Group Pre (baseline) 0 min 1 min 2 min 3 min 4 min 5 min
JH (cm) Control 52±8 53±7* 53±9* 54±8* 54±8* 54±8* 54±8*
Trampoline 53±11 54±10* 55±11* 55±11* 55±11* 54±11* 55±8*
Total 53±9 54±9* 54±9* 54±9* 54±10* 54±10* 54±9*
PF (N) Control 1707±364 1692±337 1677±345 1706±348 1692±370 1648±343 1676±355
Trampoline 1555±339 1638±35 1612±326 1596±295 1645±323 1559±330 1625±272
Total 1635±353 1666±337 1646±330 1653±321 1670±341 1605±331 1651±312
PV (m/s) Control 2.95±0.37 3.04±0.27 2.95±0.33 2.96±0.37 2.90±0.29 2.79±0.35 2.91±0.23
Trampoline 2.93±0.44 2.98±0.39 3.01±0.42 2.84±0.40 3.09±0.81 2.76±0.44 2.62±0.23
Total 2.94±0.40 3.01±0.33 2.98±0.37 2.91±0.38 3.00±0.59 2.78±0.39 2.78±0.61
PP (W) Control 4290±1253 4423±1311 4250±1170 4325±1170 4182±1223 3863±1129* 4063±1004
Trampoline 3930±1331 4057±1212 4075±1363 3766±1105 4293±1899 3555±1089* 3360±1253
Total 4119±1271 4249±1247 4167±1236 4059±1182 4235±1541 3716±1094* 3728±1158
RFD (N/s) Control 2744±1900 2945±1325 3460±1833 3363±1681 3530±1669 3254±1745 3608±2011
Trampoline 2628±1427 3705±1564 3083±1453 3005±1757 3355±1827 3455±1573 2984±1679
Total 2689±1651 3307±1460 3280±1633 3193±1684 3447±1704 3350±1627 3310±1842
Variables of countermovement vertical jumps (CMVJ) between groups (Trampoline group (N=11), control group (N=10)) and across all time
points. The mean±SD of Jump Height (JH), Peak Force (PF), Peak Velocity (PV), Peak Power (PP), and Rate of Force Development (RFD)
for each condition and for each group. *significant difference from baseline at p<0.05
Table 2. The mean±SD of SI, API, and MLI for each condition and for each group.
Pre-condition
SI
Post- condition
SI
Pre-condition
API
Post- condition
API
Pre-condition
MLI
Post- condition
MLI
Trampoline group 0.72±0.26 0.76±32 0.52±0.19 0.49±0.30 0.38±0.12 0.43±0.14
Control group 0.86±0.39 0.795±40 0.59±0.25 0.59±0.31 0.49±0.27 0.44±0.18
SI=Overall Stability Index; API=Anterior-Posterior Stability Index; MLI=Medial Lateral Stability Index. Trampoline group (N=10); Control
group (N=10).
Figure 1. Jump performance variables (mean ± SD) (a) Jump Height (JH) (b) and Peak Power (PP) in both groups (N=21) and across
all time points. There was a signicant increase in JH for both groups immediately after jumping and a signicant decrease in PP in the
4th minute
ab
Acute Effect of Mini-Trampoline Jumping on Vertical Jump and Balance Performance 5
It has been demonstrated that mini-trampoline training
is an effective exercise to improve jump performance (Atil-
gan, 2013; Ross & Hudson, 1997; Şahin et al., 2016). In
addition to improving lower body strength and endurance,
mini-trampoline training also improves balance (Aragão
et al., 2011; Atilgan, 2013; de Oliveira, da Silva, Dascal,
& Teixeira, 2014), which has been suggested to improve
vertical jump height due to a reduced postural sway that al-
lows the orientation of propulsive forces in a more vertical
direction (Chaouachi, Othman, Hammami, Drinkwater, &
Behm, 2014).
The current investigation shows an improvement of jump
height immediately after the trampoline jumps and the rest
period that is sustained for 5 minutes post jumping for both
groups, however, the time and group interaction for jump
height was not signicant, which suggests that performing 6
maximal jumps on a trampoline does not cause a signicant
improvement in jump height compared to not jumping at all
for 30s. The improvement achieved by both groups might
be due to a learning effect. These results contradict the con-
clusions of a study by Márquez et al. (Márquez et al., 2010)
that showed that 1-min of jumping on a trampoline increases
leg stiffness and decreased jump height. This might be due
to the difference in the number of jumps performed, as in the
previous study, the participants jumped on a trampoline for
60 seconds, which may have led to fatigue.
A individual performing a CMVJ has to produces high
forces to overcome body weight and the ground reaction
forces (Linthorne, 2001), but no immediate signicant im-
provement was obtained in terms of maximal force in this
study. Maximum force was found to be signicantly depen-
dent on height jumped in a previous study (Dowling & Va-
mos, 1993), which might explain why no signicant time
and group interactions was found in terms of peak force
during CMVJ in our study.
Although peak force and peak velocity did not have a
signicant effect on jump parameters, peak power signi-
cantly decreased on the 4th minute (p= 0.01). This might be
caused by fatigue, as participants performed many jumps
during the test session. Peak power represents the product
of force and velocity (Turner, Unholz, Potts, & Coleman,
2012), and was suggested to be the best predictor of jump
height values, and to indicate the efciency of energy trans-
fer between the jumper’s body segments while performing a
CMVJ (Dowling & Vamos, 1993). The current investigation
shows that performing 6 maximal jumps on a mini-tram-
poline showed no signicant time by group interactions on
peak power, which might explain why we obtained similar
results in terms of jump height.
The rate of force development is the rate of increase in
contractile forces during muscle contractions (Aagaard, Si-
monsen, Andersen, Magnusson, & Dyhre-Poulsen, 2002)
and the RFD produced by the muscles of the lower body are
thought to be a measure of explosive strength and to contrib-
ute to CMVJ performance (McLellan, Lovell, & Gass, 2011;
D. A. Winter, 2009). In this study, no signicant group, time,
and time by group interaction was found for RFD, which
suggests that this parameter does not improve acutely.
Balance Performance
In this study, the results of the dynamic balance performance
test show that performing 6 maximal jumps on a trampo-
line do not have a signicant immediate effect on balance
parameters, which does not support our hypothesis. Atilgan
(2013), has found in his study that 12 weeks of trampoline
training has led to the improvement of bipedal stability, and
suggested that it might be due to coordination between both
legs that is required when the trampoline is used (Atilgan,
2013). His study suggests that jumping on a trampoline re-
quires to control the body position in the air at every jump,
to use an adequate landing technique to avoid falling, and
to constantly adapt the eyes to successive images, which re-
quires a constant reorientation that enhances coordination
and balance (Atilgan, 2013). Another study compared the
effect of 12 weeks of aerobic training on a trampoline to an
aerobic training on a had wooden surface, and showed that
the training increased muscular strength and balance: to stay
balanced, the mini-trampoline group required a higher motor
unit recruitment to conserve their position on the unstable
surface (Sukkeaw, Kritpet, & Bunyaratavej, 2015), which
eventually caused muscle development and growth.
In conclusion, this study shows that there is no signi-
cant acute effect on jump performance and balance when 6
maximal jumps are performed on a trampoline compared to
30 seconds of rest. Most of the studies that have reported an
improvement in jump performance and balance involved a
long duration training (12 to 14 weeks). This might be due to
the long-term adaptation of the body to trampoline training.
Research has shown that muscular endurance in the muscles
around the ankle is an important factor that improves balance
ability, which might be developed by training for a long du-
ration on a trampoline (Kaminski et al., 2003). Jumping on
an unstable surface stimulates muscular strength in the lower
body (Aragão et al., 2011; de Oliveira et al., 2014), which
implies that any improvement in CMVJ performance or bal-
ance requires time for the lower body muscles to achieve a
certain level of strength and endurance to adapt.
To our knowledge, this is the rst study to examine the
acute effect of 6 maximal jumps on a trampoline on CMVJ
performance and balance, which was found to not be signif-
icant between the control group and the trampoline group.
However, this study has some limitations. It is possible that
no signicant effect was found because of the number of
trampoline jumps that might have been too low to obtain an
effect, nonetheless, the number of jumps was chosen to lim-
it fatigue and produce a maximal power during the jumps.
Additionally, the participants who participated in this study
were all recreationally trained, but were not equally trained
in explosive exercise, endurance, balance, and exibility,
and did not have a similar experience in jump performance.
CMVJ and balance performance depends on the interaction
of many factors including muscular strength, endurance and
power in the lower body and core (Hopkins, 2000; Hop-
kins, Schabort, & Hawley, 2001), which might have affected
the results in this study, those measures were not evaluat-
ed. In addition to that, psychological parameters were not
evaluated but is possible that individual psychological mo-
6 IJKSS 7(2):1-7
tivation could also have inuenced their jump and balance
performance. However, this outcome was not assessed nor
controlled in the present study since all subjects were simi-
larly motivated to participate in the study.
Consequently, we suggest that further studies should be
conducted using a higher number of jumps to give more spe-
cic recommendations to trainers and coaches regarding the
addition of jumps to the warm up or training program. Also,
the present work has only compared the trampoline group to
a control group that did not jump. More research is needed
to compare the immediate CMVJ and balance performance
parameters of subjects jumping on a trampoline to subjects
jumping on a hard surface.
CONCLUSION
Warming up before any physical activity is proven to im-
prove performance and to lower the risk of injury (Safran,
Garrett, Seaber, Glisson, & Ribbeck, 1988) by increasing
neural activation and range of motion (McArdle, Katch, &
Katch, 2010; McNair & Stanley, 1996; Safran et al., 1988;
Wiemann & Hahn, 1997). Practice trials of an exercise were
suggested to be efcient at improving the performance of
this skill (Young & Behm, 2003), as it presents more spec-
icity. It is believed that it “opens up specic neural path-
ways to facilitate motor unit activation” (Young & Behm,
2003). This study did not show a signicant immediate ef-
fect of jumping on a mini-trampoline on jump and balance
performance, which also shows that it does not impair any
of the parameters that effect jump and balance performance.
Consequently, trampoline jumping might be substituted for
vertical jumps on a hard surface in a warm up, thus decreas-
ing the forces applied to the joints related to jumping and the
risk of injury related to that.
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