Validity and Reliability of Jumping and Linear Sprinting Tests to Assess Neuromuscular Performance in Professional Basketball Players  
[PERSON]  
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[PERSON]  
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[PERSON]  
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[PERSON]  
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Footnote 1: email: {[PERSON], 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26,  
Countermovement Jump (CMJ) and Squat Jump (SJ) are neuromuscular tests commonly used to assess the physical qualities underpinning basketball performance [1; 5; 6; 7]. These jumping tests provide reliable insights into lower-limb power and neuromuscular coordination. On one hand, the CMJ, with or without an arm swing, is particularly valuable for assessing explosive strength, while the SJ isolates concentric muscle actions, offering a focused measure of lower-limb power [8]. Although SJ, CMJ, and Arm Swing CMJ (CMJA) assess slightly different capabilities, performing all of them provides a more comprehensive evaluation of a player's performance. In this regard, unilateral CMJ is also a valuable test, as it offers insight into single-leg performance and helps identify inter-limb asymmetry. These jumping tests have shown high validity (strong correlations with strength and sprint performance) and reliability (high intraclass correlation coefficient) [9]. However, the sample was composed of soccer and basketball players, with different age groups (Under 15, Under 18, and Adults) and performance levels (adult player competing in the 3 rd and 4 th division). Moreover, linear sprinting tests, especially over distances of 10 and 20 m, are also widely used to assess basketball-specific speed and anaerobic power. These attributes are critical for basketball performance, playing a key role in fast breaks, defensive recoveries, and transition plays [10]. In fact, the reactive repeated sprint test has shown moderate to high reliability (ICC > 0.80) and has been effective in distinguishing between professional and semiprofessional players [11]. Neuromuscular performance assessment through field-based tests is a fundamental component of performance monitoring in high-level sports. In basketball, jumping and sprinting tests are widely used due to their practicality and sensitivity in detecting fatigue and neuromuscular status. On the one hand, CMJ has proven to be the most reliable and robust measure across multiple time points post-fatigue, whereas the drop jump, while the most sensitive, is less consistent [12]. Although sprint performance has shown excellent repeatability, its sensitivity is primarily limited to the early stages of fatigue, further supporting the inclusion of jump-based tests as more informative tools for longitudinal neuromuscular monitoring. Furthermore, jumping and sprinting validity has been related to athletic performance. [PERSON] et al. [9] concluded that both traditional and sport-specific vertical jump tests show high reliability and are strongly correlated with leg strength and sprint ability in soccer and basketball players across different age groups. Notably, the CMJ and bilateral sport-specific jump were identified as the most useful indicators of lower-limb neuromuscular power. Similarly, moderate to strong correlations between sprint, agility, and jump tests were obtained in youth soccer players, reinforcing their concurrent validity as markers of neuromuscular performance [13]. Therefore, standardized jumping and sprinting tests appear to be a valid and reliable tool for monitoring neuromuscular status in both developmental and elite sport contexts. Basketball-specific playing positions entail distinct physical requirements, making neuromuscular demands highly position-dependent. Guards, for instance, perform more high-intensity movements such as sprinting and shuffling, while centers and forwards (Bigs) engage in more strength-based actions, such as post-ups and rebounds [14]. Positional differences are also evident in jump frequency, with Bigs averaging 49 jumps per game compared to 41 jumps for Guards [15].