The Effect of 8-Week Plyometric Training on Leg Power, Jump and Sprint Performance in Female Soccer Players

Abstract

The aim of this study was to determine the effect of 8-week plyometric training (PT) on the leg power and jump and sprint performance in female soccer players. Eighteen female soccer players from Women Second League (age = 18.2 ± 2.3 years, height = 161.3 ± 5.4 cm, body mass = 56.6 ± 7.2 kg) were randomly assigned to control (n = 9) and plyometric (n = 9) groups. Both groups continued together with regular technical and tactical soccer training for 4 days a week. Additionally, the plyometric group underwent PT for 8 weeks, 1 day per week, 60-minute session duration. During the 8-week period, the control group was hindered from any additional conditioning training. All players' jumps (triple hop, countermovement jump, and standing broad jump), running speed (20 m), and peak power were evaluated before and after 8 weeks. No significant difference was found between the groups at pretest variables (p > 0.05). Significant improvements were found in the posttest of both the groups (p ≤ 0.05), except for 20-m sprint test in the control group (p > 0.05). Triple hop distance, countermovement jump, standing broad jump, peak power, and 20-m sprint test values were all significantly improved in the plyometric group, compared with the control group (p ≤ 0.05). We concluded that short duration PT is an improved important component of athletic performance in female soccer players. The results indicate that safe, effective, and alternative PT can be useful to strength and conditioning coaches, especially during competition season where less time is available for training.

Effects of plyometric training on maximal-intensity exercise and endurance in male and female soccer players

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Effects of plyometric training on jumping, sprint performance, and lower body muscle strength in healthy adults: A systematic review and meta‐analyses

“…Jumping performance was assessed in 24 of the included studies . Within‐group improvements in jumping performance were ranging from 3.4% to 26.3% in the PLY groups vs −6% to 8% in the control groups, following 4‐12 weeks of intervention (Table ).…”

Differences in the Level of Morphological Characteristics, Speed Abilities and Aerobic Endurance in Relation to the Team Position of Top Female Football Players

“…Corluka, Bjelica, Vasiljevic, Bubanja, Georgiev i Zeljko (2018) ukazuju na način koji omogućuje optimizaciju parametara morfoloških svojstava i sastav tijela. Pored toga, pliometrijski trening može biti koristan za poboljšanje sprinterskih i skakačkih sposobnosti fudbalerki, što se posebno odnosi na takmičarski period sezone tokom kojeg nema puno raspoloživog vremena za dodatne treninge (Ozbar, Ates & Agopyan, 2014).…”