Evaluation of Handgrip Strength as a Surrogate Measure For Athletic Performance Metrics and Lower-Body Strength in High School Boys Basketball Players

This quantitative correlational study examined relationships between bilateral handgrip strength (HGS) and athletic performance metrics, including vertical jump height, barbell squat one-repetition maximum (1RM), sprint speed, agility, and upper-body muscular endurance (push-up repetitions), in adolescent male basketball players. The study also evaluated whether inter-limb strength asymmetry was associated with the athletic performance outcomes. 29 male athletes aged 14-18 years participated in the research that included handgrip strength, vertical jump, lane agility drill, shuttle run, ¾-court sprint, push-up repetitions, and 1RM barbell squat. Statistical analyses were conducted using Jeffreys’s Amazing Statistics Program (JASP) and included Pearson product-moment correlations, Shapiro-Wilk assumption testing, and one-sample t-tests. Results indicated that HGS was moderately and significantly correlated with lower-body strength (1RM squat), while HGS and inter-limb asymmetry were not significantly associated with vertical jump, push-up repetitions, sprint speed, or lane agility. These findings suggest that HGS may function as a practical, field-based indicator of maximal strength capacity in adolescent basketball athletes, but it does not reliably predict explosive, agility-based, or endurance-related performance. This clarifies the role of HGS in athlete monitoring and supports its use as one component within broader, sport-specific assessment batteries consistent with the Youth Physical Development Model and Long-Term Athlete Development framework.