The Effect of Six-Week Plyometric Training on Enhancing Sports Performance of Adolescent Students

Abstract

Numerous studies have documented that plyometric training is an effective method to improve sports performance.
 The purpose of this study was to compare the effects of six weeks of plyomeytric training on strength, speed, and power.
 Materials and methods. An experimental study using a pretest-posttest control group design was conducted on 30 Perisai Diri athletes. They were randomly divided into three groups: the plyometric jumping jack (JJ) group, the countermovement jump (CMJ) group, and the tuck jump (TJ) group. The respondents in the TJ and CMJ groups were then assigned to six weeks of exercise consisting of three sets each session (18 sessions in total), with intensities ranging from 60% to 80%. Pretest and posttest were conducted to obtain data on strength and explosive power. Data were analyzed using SPSS 21 and presented in mean and standard deviation. Paired sample t-test was performed to compare the differences between the groups before and after the training they were given. One-way ANOVA was used to examine multiple comparison in the gains of strength and power between the groups.
 Results. The results showed that the students’ strength and power in all groups increased significantly (p<0.05) after six weeks. Differences between the groups were found in strength (p = 0.000), which was the case between TJ-CMJ pair (p = 0.001) and TJ-C pair (p = 0.000). Between-group differences were also found in power (p = 0.017), which was the case between TJ-CMJ and TJ-C pairs (p<0.05).
 Conclusions. Based on these findings, it was concluded that plyometric training was able to improve strength and leg muscle power of non-trained individuals.