Performance characteristics and lower limb muscle reflex properties in female volleyball athletes and non-athletes

Purpose Sports training may lead to alterations in muscle reflex responses of the trained muscles. This study compared performance characteristics and the knee reflex (KR) and soleus Hoffmann (H-)reflex (SR) properties, as well as their potential associations in female volleyball players and non-athletes. Methods Nine female amateur volleyball players (VP) in the middle of their competition season and nine age-matched women without athletic background, used as a control group (CG), participated in the study. KR and SR amplitude and latency, handgrip strength (HS), sit-and-reach, jumping performance [countermovement jump (CMJ) using one or both legs, and long jump (LJ)] were assessed. Results VP performed better than CG in CMJ-both legs (27.99 cm vs 20.02 cm; p = 0.006), CMJ-non-dominant leg (13.40 cm vs 9.88 cm; p = 0.02), HS-dominant arm (33.67 kg vs 27.64 kg, p = 0.002) and HS-non-dominant arm (32.44 kg vs 24.64 kg; p = 0.001). There were no significant differences (p > 0.05) in the reflex properties between the groups. A positive correlation was found between SR latency and CMJ-both legs (VP: rho = 0.7, p < 0.05, CG: rho = 1, p = 0.01). Interestingly, only in the control group, there was also a positive correlation between KR and SR latencies (rho = 0.96, p < 0.001) and a negative correlation between KR latency and amplitude (rho = - 0.68, p < 0.05). Conclusions Although volleyball players performed better in vertical (CMJ) jumps, the expected training-induced alterations in KR and SR reflex properties were not observed. This finding, combined with the correlations between SR latency and CMJ in both groups, suggests similar neuromuscular function in the trained and untrained subjects.