Effects of Plyometric Jump Training on Physical Fitness in Amateur and Professional Volleyball: A Meta-Analysis.

Rodrigo Ramirez-Campillo,Yassine Negra,Urs Granacher,Antonio García-De-Alcaraz,Helmi Chaabene,Jason Moran

doi:10.3389/fphys.2021.636140

Abstract

We aimed to examine the effects of plyometric jump training (PJT) on measures of physical fitness in amateur and professional volleyball players. A systematic electronic literature search was carried out in the databases PubMed, MEDLINE, Web of Science, and SCOPUS. Controlled studies including pre-to-post intervention tests of physical fitness and involving healthy volleyball players regardless of age and sex were considered. A random-effects model was used to calculate effect sizes (ES) between intervention and control groups. Moderator analyses considered programme duration, training frequency, total number of training sessions and jumps, participants' sex, age, and expertise level. The Physiotherapy Evidence Database scale was used to assess the methodological quality of the included studies. Eighteen moderate-to-high quality (median of 5 PEDro points) studies were eligible, comprising a total of 746 athletes. None of the included studies reported injuries related to the PJT intervention. The main findings showed small-to-moderate effects (p < 0.05) of PJT on linear sprint speed (ES = 0.70), squat jump (ES = 0.56), countermovement jump (CMJ) (ES = 0.80), CMJ with arm swing (ES = 0.63), drop jump (ES = 0.81), and spike jump height (ES = 0.84). Sub-analyses of moderator factors included 48 data sets. Only age had a significant effect on CMJ performance. Participants aged ≥16 years achieved greater improvements in CMJ performance compared to <16 years old (ES = 1.28 and 0.38, respectively; p = 0.022). No significant differences (p = 0.422) were identified between amateur (ES = 0.62) and professional volleyball players (ES = 1.01). In conclusion, PJT seems safe and is effective in improving measures of physical fitness in amateur and professional volleyball players, considering studies performed in both male and female.

Highlights

Plyometric jump training (PJT) is one of the most popular training approaches adopted by coaches and strength and conditioning professionals in both, team and individual sports (Ebben and Blackard, 2001; Ebben et al, 2004, 2005; Blagrove et al, 2017)
Future studies may elucidate how maturity and/or training age may interact with PJT and physical fitness changes
Likewise, when a moderate PJT volume is realized across 8 weeks of training, there is evidence that a higher PJT frequency has no extra effects on male soccer players’ physical fitness, including sprint-time performance, squat jump height, countermovement jump height, and drop jump height (Bouguezzi et al, 2020b)

Summary

Introduction

Plyometric jump training (PJT) is one of the most popular training approaches adopted by coaches and strength and conditioning professionals in both, team and individual sports (Ebben and Blackard, 2001; Ebben et al, 2004, 2005; Blagrove et al, 2017). PJT benefits from the mechanical properties of the stretch-shortening cycle (SSC) during jump drills (Komi and Gollhofer, 1997; Taube et al, 2012). PJT has been shown to enhance neuromuscular (e.g., improved neural drive to agonist’s muscles) and/or mechanical/structural properties (e.g., alterations to musculotendinous stiffness and architecture) (Markovic and Mikulic, 2010). These positive effects on neuromuscular and structural properties should have potential in sports such as volleyball, which involves extensive movements analogous to PJT drills

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