Sex-specific influence of maturity status on jumping performance in adolescents: a cross-sectional study

The development of jumping performance during youth has received renewed interest, but fundamental questions remain regarding the influences of sex and maturity status on jumping ability. This study aimed to investigate how sex and maturity status affect jumping performance in adolescents. Two hundred healthy adolescents participated: 86 males (age 15.8 ± 1.7 years, body mass 53.96 ± 10.0 kg, height 167 ± 10.4 cm) and 114 females (age 16.25 ± 1.8 years, body mass 53.3 ± 7.5 kg, height 159 ± 0.7 cm), aged 13–19 years. Participants were divided into three maturity groups according to their estimated peak height velocity (PHV): Pre-PHV (maturity offset ≤-0.5 years), Circa-PHV (maturity offset between − 0.5 and 0.5 years), and post-PHV (maturity offset ≥ 0.5 years). Testing included vertical jumps (drop jump, countermovement jump) and horizontal jumps (horizontal jump test, five jump test). Post-PHV males performed significantly better than Circa-PHV and Pre-PHV males in drop jump (p < 0.001; ES: 0.67–0.76), countermovement jump (p < 0.001; ES: 0.67–0.81), horizontal jump test (p < 0.05; ES: 0.16–0.63), and five jump test (p < 0.001; ES: 0.28–0.55). No significant differences were observed across maturity groups in females. The sex-based comparison revealed significantly better performance in males than in females across all tests (p < 0.001). Significant positive correlations were observed between maturity offset and jumping performance in males (r = 0.60–0.67, p < 0.01), but no such relationships were found in females. This study suggests that sex and maturation status are associated with distinct patterns of jumping performance development in adolescents, with distinct patterns between males and females. Maturation substantially impacts jumping ability in males but shows minimal effect in females. These findings suggest that the maturation schedule should be carefully considered when assessing jumping performance in adolescents, particularly in males during puberty. Physical education teachers and coaches should implement sex-specific and maturity-based approaches when designing training programs and evaluating jumping performance in youth.