Associations Between Isokinetic Knee Strength at Different Angular Velocities and Explosive Jump Performance in Young Female Athletes: A Pilot Study

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

Dear Authors,

Thank you for submitting your work to this journal. This manuscript is well-written, although I believe my comments can improve your work as well.

Major Concerns
Sample size is critically small (n=13).
Correlation analyses with such a small sample are unstable and prone to Type I and Type II errors. The significant findings (e.g., r = 0.754) could easily change with one or two additional participants. Please acknowledge this as the primary limitation and consider reframing the study as a pilot investigation.

Conclusions overreach the data.
Statements such as "the ability to generate force at higher contraction velocities represents a significant determinant of explosive performance" imply causation. Your design only shows association. Please revise throughout (abstract, discussion, conclusions) to use associative language (e.g., "is associated with," "may contribute to").

Heterogeneous athletic background.
Participants came from "sport-oriented educational programs" without specifying athletic disciplines. Different sports have different neuromuscular demands. Please clarify the composition or add this as a limitation.

Lack of maturation control.
Biological maturation significantly affects strength and jump performance in adolescent females. No measure of maturation (e.g., age at menarche, Tanner staging, or predicted adult height) was reported. Please add this as a limitation.

Suggestions for Improvement
Add effect sizes with confidence intervals.
Reporting only Pearson's r and p-values is insufficient. Please add 95% confidence intervals for each correlation coefficient.

Consider re-analyzing with non-parametric tests.
With n=13 and potential outliers, Spearman's rank correlation may be more appropriate than Pearson's. Please consider this or justify your choice.

Add practical recommendations with caution.
The statement "developing the speed-strength capabilities of the hamstrings at higher contraction velocities" is reasonable but should be presented as hypothesis-generating, not prescriptive, given the pilot nature of the study.

Summary Recommendation
This study addresses an interesting and under-researched topic. However, the very small sample size and lack of statistical corrections currently render the findings preliminary at best. The manuscript can be considered for publication only after:

Acknowledging the pilot nature of the work.

Applying or discussing correction for multiple comparisons.

Tempering all causal conclusions.

If these revisions are made, the paper could serve as a hypothesis-generating pilot study to inform larger future investigations.

Best regards,

Author Response

Thank you for the reviewers’ comments and valuable suggestions.
The revised manuscript has been uploaded to the submission system. Newly added text is highlighted in red, while deleted text is shown using strikethrough formatting and highlighted in yellow. Our point-by-point responses to the reviewers’ comments have been uploaded as a separate PDF file.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 2 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

See attached file.

Comments for author File: Comments.pdf

Author Response

Thank you for the reviewers’ comments and valuable suggestions.
The revised manuscript has been uploaded to the submission system. Newly added text is highlighted in red, while deleted text is shown using strikethrough formatting and highlighted in yellow. Our point-by-point responses to the reviewers’ comments have been uploaded as a separate PDF file.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 3 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

This is an interesting topic given its potential practical applications

Introduction

Without disputing the importance of the isokinetic component, the authors could briefly explain why it is considered superior to other measurement methods.

In describing its association with the standard SJ and CMJ tests, the typical knee angle (which is not 90°) should be specified in the case of the latter.

To provide context and more precise information, the ratio between the knee extensors and flexors (approx. 0.50).

They should clarify the lack of studies on women, particularly in team sports, and whether this has been investigated. Specify whether athletics is specifically involved

Methods

The study has a very small sample size; therefore, the authors are advised to indicate in the title that it is an exploratory or pilot study.

Please include the tables that appear in the manuscript.

Please provide the code of the Research Ethics Committee.

To ensure proper data protection, the athlete’s face was blurred (Figure 1).

Discussion

In terms of practical applications, the authors should consider coaches and trainers and provide specific guidelines that can be incorporated into training exercises.

Another limitation is the exclusively female sample, which does not allow for comparison, and the fact that this is an acute effect; a longitudinal study could be conducted to assess its stability.

Conclusions

Given the very small sample size, the implications of the findings should be interpreted with caution, and further research is needed to generalize them.

Author Response

Thank you for the reviewers’ comments and valuable suggestions.
The revised manuscript has been uploaded to the submission system. Newly added text is highlighted in red, while deleted text is shown using strikethrough formatting and highlighted in yellow. Our point-by-point responses to the reviewers’ comments have been uploaded as a separate PDF file.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Round 2

Reviewer 2 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

Ok.