Honors Program

Midway Honors

Date of Award

12-2017

Thesis Professor(s)

Kimitake Sato

Thesis Professor Department

Kinesiology, Leisure and Sport Sciences

Thesis Reader(s)

Michael Ramsey, John P. Wagle

Abstract

This present study was intended to identify the reliability and validity of the Vert™ device when compared to a Switch mat. Vert is a wireless device intended to measure jump count and jump height through an application on a smartphone or tablet and the Switch mat provides jump height using wireless sensors. Jump height is an important factor in many sports such as volleyball and basketball and it is important to have devices that coaches and trainers can use for testing that they can rely on. If this device is found to be valid and reliable, coaches and trainers could potentially use it in more practical settings such as practice and games due to the portability and small size. This study consisted of 6 subjects who volunteered. The switch mat was connected to the device to display the jump height immediately after the jump. The Vert sensor was clipped onto the subject’s hip near the center of mass and the jump count and height were then displayed on an app. The subjects completed a series of warm-ups followed by 3 sets of 5 repetition countermovement jumps while using both devices to collect the data. The total 15 jump heights from these 3 sets of 5 were then analyzed using Pearson correlation analysis as well as a paired sample T-test. The jump height recorded from the Vert was consistently about 10 cm off from the jump height of the switch mat, which for a volleyball player, could be the difference between blocking and missing the ball. The results of this study showed that the Vert device is reliable but not practically valid. If technical improvements were made to the device to correct the height components the device could potentially be used in place of a force plate or switch mat when conducting athlete testing but the device is not currently valid for practical use.

Publisher

East Tennessee State University

Document Type

Honors Thesis - Open Access

Copyright

Copyright by the authors.

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