Inter-rater reliability, internal consistency and common technique flaws of the tuck jump assessment in elite female football players

Injury rates between elite female and male players are comparable, although female players are more likely to sustain an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury. The common mechanism of ACL injury is non-contact trauma sustained when landing from a jump. The Tuck Jump Assessment (TJA) is commonly used in football to assess jump landing technique. The aims of this study were to determine inter-rater agreement and internal consistency of the TJA and to identify commonly occurring technique flaws. Sixty elite female football players (mean (SD): age = 20.27 ± 3.44yrs) were video recorded whilst undertaking the TJA and independently assessed by four raters. Clinically acceptable levels of agreement were reached for ‘Lower extremity valgus at landing’ k = .83 (95% CI, .72 – .93); ‘Thighs do not reach parallel’ k = .84 (95% CI, .74 - .94); ‘Thighs not equal side to side’ k = .86 (95% CI, .75 - .96). The level of agreement for the composite score of all 10 criteria ranged from kw = .62 (95% CI, .48 – .76) to kw = .80 (95% CI, .70 – .90) suggesting a ‘fair-to-very good’ level of inter-rater agreement. The most common technique flaws were found for criterion 2 ‘Thighs do not reach parallel’ (N=147/665) and criterion 1 ‘Knee valgus on landing’ (N=80/665). However, internal consistency results suggest that the TJA is not unidimensional. We suggest ‘Knee valgus on landing’ may have clinical utility although further research is needed.