Warm Up to Power Up

There’s another reason to undertake a structured warm up before a game of floorball - it may actually improve your balance and jumping speed.

A study published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine found that female floorball players who undertook 25 minutes of vigorous “neuromuscular training” (a fancy way of saying exercises that include balance and coordination) 1-3 times per week throughout a floorball season had better balance and sideways jumping speed than players who simply undertook training as usual.

The Finnish study, involved following 222 players over the course of a full season, with players assessed before and after the 6 month point.

So what did the program consist of? Each session involved sports-specific running technique, balance, jumping and strengthening exercises in addition to usual floorball training. Simple!

You might be asking yourself: why would I want to increase my jumping speed? There’s no jumping in floorball! Well jumping speed itself isn’t the important part, what’s really important here is what jumping speed tells us about a person’s ability to generate force with their legs. A higher sideways jumping speed may indicate that a person not only has more powerful legs than someone with a lower jumping speed but is also more able to translate this power into rapid changes of direction. Combine these abilities and what you have is extra punch to help you burst past your opponent.  

Interestingly, the study also found however, no difference between groups in their improvement in jump height or running speed. This could be attributed to the fact that the exercises utilised were not vigorous enough, nor specific enough to induce improvements in these areas.

Rob Satchell

B. App Sci. (Phty)(Hons.)

Physiotherapist