RESEARCH ARTICLE


Effect of Four Weeks Detraining on Strength, Power, and Sensorimotor Ability of Adolescent Surfers



Tai T. Tran1, 2, *, Lina Lundgren1, 2, Josh Secomb1, 2, Oliver R.L. Farley1, 2, G. Gregory Haff2, Sophia Nimphius2, Robert U. Newton2, Lee E. Brown3, Jeremy M. Sheppard1, 2
1 Hurley Surfing Australia High Performance Centre, Casuarina Beach, NSW, Australia
2 Centre for Exercise and Sport Science Research, Edith Cowan University, Joondalup, Western Australia
3 Department of Kinesiology, Center for Sport Performance, Human Performance Laboratory, California State University, Fullerton, California


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Creative Commons License
© 2017 Tran et al.

open-access license: This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License (CC-BY 4.0), a copy of which is available at: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode. This license permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

* Address correspondence to this author at the Canadian Sport Institute 1090 Legacy Way Whistler, BC V0N 1B1, Tel: +1(818) 448-4320, E-mail: taitran151@yahoo.com


Abstract

Background:

Surfing is a high skill sport that requires a considerable amount of time in a variety of ocean conditions to help develop the fundamental techniques.

Objective:

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of four weeks of detraining on strength, power, and sensorimotor ability in adolescent surfers.

Methods:

Nineteen adolescent surfers (13.8 A 1.7 y, 53.6 A 10.8 kg and 165.1 A 8.9 cm) participated in four weeks of detraining (surfing participation maintained but resistance training ceased) following seven weeks of periodized resistance training. Maximal isometric strength, power, and sensorimotor ability pre-test results were determined from the conclusion (post-test) of the first seven-week training block while post-test results were measured at the start (pre-test) of a second seven-week training block.

Results:

Four weeks of detraining significantly decreased the following variables: Vertical jump height by -5.26%, (p=0.037, d= 0.40), vertical jump peak velocity by -3.73% (p=0.001, d= 0.51), isometric strength by -5.5%, (p=0.012, d= 0.22), and relative isometric strength by -7.27% (p=0.003, d= 0.47). Furthermore, sensorimotor ability worsened, with a significant increase of 61.36% (p=0.004, d= 1.01), indicating that athletes took longer to stabilize from a dynamic landing task.

Conclusions:

This demonstrates that surfing, in the absence of resistance training, is not a sufficient training stimulus to maintain physical characteristics. Adolescent surfers with a relatively low training age should avoid cessation of resistance training and strive to maintain consistent resistance training in conjunction with surf training in order to avoid negative decrements in physical characteristics that are associated with surfing performance.

Keywords: Resistance training, Training cessation, Dynamic postural control, Time to stabilization.