Despite the research conducted concerning the principal component structure of vertical jumping in male athletes, no studies addressing this issue in female athletes have been found. It is well documented that vertical jumping performance is significantly different between males and females due to the existing gender differences concerning the strength and power production abilities.27, 28 and 29 Furthermore, it has been reported

that although the temporal parameters are not different, significant gender differences exist concerning the magnitude of the force dominancy of maximal vertical squat jump (SQJ) performance Z-VAD-FMK concentration in untrained young adult males and females.30 Since previous studies have reported differences concerning the principal component structure of vertical jumping only for male athletes of various sport-specific backgrounds,22, 23, 24, 25 and 26 it is of interest to examine the effect of sport specificity on the maximal SQJ performance indices in female athletes. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the possibility that young adult female athletes from different sports utilize a force- and time-dependency pattern representative of their sporting background when executing a vertical SQJ. It was of interest to examine if female

TF and VO rely RGFP966 clinical trial more on a tendency of force dominance opposed to HA and BA players, as previously shown for male athletes of the same sports. A hundred and seventy-three women (20.1 ± 2.8 years, 1.71 ± 0.09 m, 65.6 ± 10.3 kg, mean ± SD for age, height,

and mass, respectively) volunteered for the study. In detail, 136 of the participants were athletes (Table 1) and were evaluated at the beginning of their competitive season, 51 were national level TF (sprinters, jumpers, and throwers), 48 were VO, 19 were HA, and 18 were BA, all competing in top leagues of their respective sport. Inclusion to the study required athletes to constantly participate in systematic training programs for a period of at least 8 years. The sample also included 37 females who were physical education students (PE) and did not participate, besides their academic courses, in a systematic training program for at least 2 years prior to the study. No previous severe lower extremity injury was reported from the participants who gave their informed consent Tryptophan synthase for participation in the study, which was accomplished according to the Institutional Research Ethics Code for the use of human subjects. Prior to the actual testing, the participants’ anthropometric data (body height, body mass, and body fat composition) were collected.31 Before testing, participants performed a 10-min cycling session at a constant pedaling velocity of 5.5 m/s with no additional load for warm-up, followed by a 10-min flexibility program. Afterward, the participants executed three bare footed maximal SQJ on a force-plate without the swing of the arms.