Establishing Normative Reference Values for the Utah Seated Medicine Ball Throw Protocol in Adolescents

The seated medicine ball throw (SMBT) is a field test intended to assess upper-body muscular power by measuring the maximal distance an individual can throw a medicine ball from an isolated, seated position (25). The SMBT has been used to assess upper-body power in various populations and to establish concurrent validity for other measures of upper-body power such as the bench press power test and the plyometric push-up. The SMBT is less costly and simpler to incorporate into a field test battery than other upper body power assessments. While the SMBT is a valid, reliable field test for upper-body power, normative reference standards for most populations, including adolescent (12-15 years old) physical education students, do not exist. PurposeThis study reports distances thrown in the SMBT to establish normative reference values in male and female physical education students, ages 12-15 years old. MethodsOne hundred thirteen untrained male and female physical education students aged 12-15 years performed the SMBT field test three times on a single testing day. Participants threw a 2kg medicine ball with a 19.5 cm diameter while seated at a 90{degrees} after recording height, body mass, and BMI. ResultsParticipant data was separated by age gender for analysis. Mean and standard deviation for the SMBT for males was 4.3{+/-}0.7m and 5.2{+/-}0.8 m for ages 12-13 and 14-15, respectively, and for females was 3.4{+/-}0.5m and 3.7{+/-}0.5m for ages 12-13 and 14-15, respectively. Pearson correlation coefficients for between-trials comparisons for males and females ranged from r=0.85-0.97. Pearson correlation coefficients for average SMBT and age of participants was r=0.93. Normative reference values as percentile ranks for the SMBT scores for age groups 12-13 and 14-15 among males and females, respectively, were also established. ConclusionThe data presented provides an initial set of normative reference standards for coaches and students to determine upper-body muscular power using the SMBT.