Semester

Spring

Date of Graduation

2024

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Type

EdD

College

College of Applied Human Sciences

Department

Athletic Coaching Education

Committee Chair

William Guy Hornsby III

Committee Member

Kristen Dieffenbach

Committee Member

Mike Ryan

Committee Member

Sean Bulger

Committee Member

Micheal Stone

Abstract

In the sport of weightlifting, the ability to produce force known as strength is of great importance. Coaches can implement strategies to help their weightlifters increase their maximal strength levels such as performing full lifts like the snatch and clean & jerk or performing derivatives of those movements such as a clean pull from the knee or a mid-thigh pull. Performing weightlifting derivatives helps strengthen key technical positions in the full lifts, aiding their success. Having muscular weakness in these positions may be detrimental to the success of a lift. Therefore, it is in the best interest of the weightlifting coach to assess maximal strength adaptations of their weightlifters to determine how they are adapting to the training program or to determine if there are any aspects of the training that need to be addressed. A common form of athlete strength monitoring is the isometric mid-thigh pull (IMTP). This test is relatively safe and non-fatiguing and is favored by weightlifting coaches as it mimics the start of the 2nd pull (power position) which is a vital phase in Olympic lifts. However, there are other positions and phases during Olympic lifts, but these are not commonly used as strength assessment tools, nor are they well researched as a paucity of literature exists on isometric force-time characteristics of clean positions other than the IMTP. To address this gap in the literature, the aim of this dissertation was to compare isometric force-time characteristics of weightlifters at three key positions in the clean and weightlifting performances at USAW sanctioned meets. Seventeen male and female weightlifters participated in isometric strength assessments at three different positions. These positions consisted of the IMTP, an isometric pull from the start of the transition (IPST), and an isometric pull from the start position (IPSP). These isometric assessments were performed on force plates in an isometric mid-thigh pull rack. The force-time characteristics obtained from the isometric testing were then compared to individual weightlifting competition performance through a Pearson Correlation Coefficient analysis. The results indicated that statistically significant Very Large and Nearly Perfect correlations exist across all three isometric positions in isometric peak force (IPF), rate of force production (RFD), and impulse (IMP) in the combined group. These results suggest that all three isometric positions can be used to predict weightlifting performance. This study demonstrates the importance of strength characteristics in weightlifters, specifically IPF and RFD. These should be monitored at the three key isometric positions and a strength profile for each individual athlete may be built to better understand the progress a weightlifter makes throughout the training process.

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