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The Effect of 8-Week Plyometric Training on Leg Power, Jump and Sprint
Performance in Female Soccer Players
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ABSTRACT INTRODUCTION
N
Ozbar, N, Ates, S, and Agopyan, A. The effect of 8-week owadays, female soccer shows a great deal of
plyometric training on leg power, jump and sprint performance similarity to male soccer in terms of struggle,
in female soccer players. J Strength Cond Res 28(10): 2888– and properties based on technique-tactic and
2894, 2014—The aim of this study was to determine the effect of conditions. Actions such as power, running,
direction changes, jumps, and short-distance sprint belong
8-week plyometric training (PT) on the leg power and jump and
to lower extremity. During a soccer match, short duration
sprint performance in female soccer players. Eighteen female
actions such as jumps, direction changes, and accelerations,
soccer players from Women Second League (age = 18.2 6
all of which occur once in 4–6 seconds, are repeated 1,000–
2.3 years, height = 161.3 6 5.4 cm, body mass = 56.6 6 7.2 1,400 times (35). Technique in a soccer game is exhibited by
kg) were randomly assigned to control (n = 9) and plyometric speed, power of lower extremity, and actions in which
(n = 9) groups. Both groups continued together with regular explosive power comes to the fore. As frequent use of these
technical and tactical soccer training for 4 days a week. Addi- actions can influence the result of a game and optimal high
tionally, the plyometric group underwent PT for 8 weeks, 1 day performance (5,35), the need to develop these properties by
per week, 60-minute session duration. During the 8-week period, different training occurs.
the control group was hindered from any additional conditioning One of the training methods that includes these actions
training. All players’ jumps (triple hop, countermovement jump, and that is used for power development is plyometric
and standing broad jump), running speed (20 m), and peak exercises. These kinds of exercises are characterized by
power were evaluated before and after 8 weeks. No significant stretch-shortening cycle (10,22). It can be used for upper-
and lower-body exercises. Especially for lower body, plyo-
difference was found between the groups at pretest variables
metric training (PT) is a method to improve vertical jump
(p . 0.05). Significant improvements were found in the posttest
ability and leg muscle power (23), which is included in var-
of both the groups (p # 0.05), except for 20-m sprint test in the
ious types of jumps, like countermovement jumps (CMJ), the
control group (p . 0.05). Triple hop distance, countermovement
drop jump, and squat jump, hopping, alternate-leg bounding,
jump, standing broad jump, peak power, and 20-m sprint test
and stretch-shortening cycle (10). Also, PTs are found to
values were all significantly improved in the plyometric group, increase kicking speed (26,33), as well as strength, muscle
compared with the control group (p # 0.05). We concluded that power (26), coordination, agility (26,36), speed, and acceler-
short duration PT is an improved important component of athletic ation time (16,31,34); however, there are also reports about
performance in female soccer players. The results indicate that neutral impacts (6) or negative impacts (20).
safe, effective, and alternative PT can be useful to strength and The controversial and scarce impacts of PT on female
conditioning coaches, especially during competition season soccer players must also be pointed out. Chimera et al. (6)
where less time is available for training. reported that 2 times per week for 6 weeks of PT increased
small (5.8%) but insignificant improvement in vertical jump
KEY WORDS stretch-shortening cycle, lower limb, jumping in collegiate female soccer and field hockey players. Also,
ability, running speed, football, explosive power studies show that if adults perform PT twice a week, then
jumping and speed performance will increase (6,7). But,
Address correspondence to Dr. Nurper Ozbar, nurperozbar@gmail.com. Rubley et al. (32) reveal the effect of PT in vertical jumps
28(10)/2888–2894 in children in 1 day a week program. However, technical
Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research training of female soccer players during the competition
Ó 2014 National Strength and Conditioning Association season, the effects of implementing PT, especially the
the TM
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low-frequency PT (once a week), could not be fully session (i.e., 15:00 and 18:00 hours) in the same condition
determined. with a test being completed by anthropometric measure-
As a result, contradictory and different results of PT, ments, sprint (20 m) and strength (triple jump, CMJ,
which insures speed and strength development that are standing board jump) tests, respectively, and 1 minute of
important factors in female soccer, show that more studies rest was allowed between each test. All players were
must be done in this area. Moreover, as the studies on soccer familiarized with all experimental tests before baseline
are oriented at male soccer players and less study exists performance. The players were requested not to perform
about female soccer players, more studies on this subject are strenuous exercise in the 24 hours before testing and avoid
required. Despite the opinion that PT is sufficient twice per drinking or eating at least 3 hours before measurements.
week (27), we hypothesize that 8-week low-frequency, high- These tests were performed on natural grass in a soccer
volume and low-intensity (nondeep jump) PT, 1 day per pitch, and the participants were wearing soccer kit. Before
week, will significantly increase jumps and sprint perfor- the tests and after completing anthropometric measurement,
mance in female soccer players. participants performed the standardized warm-up, which
consisted of jogging, multidirectional movements, sprints,
METHODS dynamic stretching exercises, and ball drills in 10 minutes.
Experimental Approach to the Problem
In the present study, a group-assigned, mixed-model exper- Anthropometric Measurements. The anthropometric variables
imental design was used to determine the effect of 8-week (body height and body mass) were measured according to
low-impact low-frequency PT on the leg power, and jump the instructions of the Anthropometric Standardization
and sprint performance of female soccer players. According Reference Manual (19).
to the preliminary test results, the 18 elite female soccer
players were divided into two groups as control and
Sprint Test. Sprint times were evaluated during 20-m maximal
plyometric. One group who completed only regular soccer
running on a grass track (3) and recorded by infrared pho-
practicesserved as the control group (CG); the other group
toelectric cells (Newtest 2000 Sprint Timing System;
who completed once-weekly PT, served as the plyometric
NewtestOy, Oulu, Finland) having a precision of 0.01 sec-
training group (PG). The effectiveness of the PT program
onds. Two trails were given and recovery time between
was evaluated with a pretest and posttest.
sprints was set at 2 minutes. During the recovery period,
Subjects the subjects walked back to the starting line and the best
A total of 18 female soccer players, 15 to 22 years of age sprint time was used for statistical analysis (11).
(18.4 6 2.7 years), from the University Sports Club female
soccer team that plays at Women Second League volun- Countermovement Jump. The players performed 3 CMJ to
teered to participate in the study. Anthropometrics and realize maximal height on a vertically using jumping mat
training characteristics of soccer players are presented in (Newtest 2000 System; NewtestOy). During the jump test,
Table 1 (mean 6 SD and range). Participants were chosen participants were instructed to place hands on their hips
from the players who had at least 4 years of training to minimize contribution of the arms during the jumps.
history; and they were excluded from participation in Three maximal jumps height (cm) were recorded. Between
this study if they had not previously engaged in a formal jumps, a break of 30 seconds was provided. The best trial
PT program and had an orthopedic injury in the past was included into further analysis (12).
6 months.
Groups were divided into plyometric (n = 9) and control Triple Hop Distance Test. During the triple hop distance
(n = 9). Participants were homogeneous in terms of their (THD) test, 3 consecutive jumps were performed with the
training history and physical properties (height, weight, same leg, an attempt to jump as far as possible to reach the
body mass index [BMI]). All players participated in all the maximal horizontal distance. These tests were performed
training; goalkeepers were not included in this study. until 3 successful hops were obtained for each leg, with the
Approval from Marmara University Ethical Committee starting order of randomly either the right leg or the left leg
was received. All participants and their parents were assigned to the participants. For the best distance (cm),
informed of the purpose, benefits, and potential risks of the dominant and nondominant leg was recorded from 3 trails.
participation. Written consent was obtained from all partic- This was used for analysis (13,28).
ipants, and parents gave written consent for the participants
younger than 18 years old.
Standing Broad Jump. The test was performed according to
Procedures Eurofit test battery (1). Participants were instructed to jump
Testing Protocols. All the tests selected to determine the forward as far as possible and land with the feet together and
training effects were carried out before and after 8 weeks stay upright. The test was repeated twice and the best trial
of training intervention. The tests were assessed in a single was recorded.
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Plyometric Training in Female Soccer Player
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analysis was performed using SPSS (version 14.0; SPSS Inc., speed time decrease in 20-m sprint test between pre- and
Chicago, IL, USA). posttests for the control group. Also, differences between
pretests and posttests within each group were stated
RESULTS and percentages were found in the order of significant
The groups’ differences of the anthropometric and training increase in PG’s and CG’s dominant leg triple hop dis-
characteristics are summarized in Table 1. There was no tance test (+12.1%, +4.3%), nondominant leg triple hop
statistically meaningful difference (p . 0.05) among the pre- distance test (+15.7%, +6.6%), standing broad jump
test results related to physical (height, weight, BMI) (Table 1) (SBJ) (+5.2%, +2.1%), CMJ (+17.6%, +6.9%), and PP
and motoric properties (Table 3) of both groups and these (+10.8%, +4.4%) values (p # 0.05). The PGs showed sig-
results were determined to be homogeneous of groups. Tests nificant decrease in (p # 0.05) 20-m sprint time (28.1%)
of normality indicated that dependent variables were nor- from pretest to posttests.
mally distributed. There were significant differences between the groups for
Significant differences (p , 0.05) were observed between all pre- and posttest results of dominant triple hop distance test,
the pre- and posttest measurements of both groups. However, nondominant triple hop distance test CMJ, PP, 20-m sprint
no significant differences (p . 0.05) were observed in the (s) parameters, and SBJ in favor of PG (Table 3).
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Plyometric Training in Female Soccer Player
TABLE 3. Performance variables of pretest and posttests for plyometric group (n = 9) and control group (n = 9).*
Within Between
Tests Group Pretest Posttest Difference group, p group, p
Dominant leg triple PG 4.9 6 0.5 5.6 6 0.4 0.6 6 0.3 0.008† 0.003†
jump, m CG 4.6 6 0.3 4.9 6 0.4 0.2 6 0.2 0.007†
Nondominant leg triple PG 4.9 6 0.6 5.7 6 0.4 0.8 6 0.5 0.008† 0.005†
jump, m CG 4.6 6 0.7 4.9 6 0.6 0.3 6 0.1 0.008†
Standing broad PG 182.8 6 13.5 192.3 6 14.6 9.6 6 3.3 0.008† 0.000z
jump, cm CG 173.1 6 4.8 176.7 6 4.6 3.6 6 1.4 0.007†
Countermovement PG 39.8 6 4.5 46.8 6 2.2 7.0 6 3.9 0.007† 0.003†
jump, cm CG 35.4 6 4.6 37.9 6 3.9 2.4 6 1.6 0.007z
Peak power, W PG 3,480.0 6 643.2 3,855.2 6 536.6 375.2 6 211.0 0.007† 0.003†
CG 2,949.2 6 432.1 3,080.2 6 420.4 131.0 6 85.2 0.007†
20-m sprint, s PG 3.7 6 0.3 3.4 6 0.2 0.3 6 0.3 0.008† 0.009†
CG 3.9 6 0.4 4.0 6 0.5 20.1 6 0.4 0.192§
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parameters at control group may be related to common influences multidimensional development of muscular perfor-
technical and conditional exercises done at other days. mance. Despite the numerous benefits associated with high-
Studies about the effect of PT on horizontal jumping impact and high-intensity PT, the possibility exists for this type
performance are scarce. In the study of Markovic and of training to induce acute muscle soreness, muscle damage, or
Mikulic (24), it is stated that PT increases horizontal jump- even musculoskeletal injuries (25). There is a lack of informa-
ing performance by 1.4–7%. This increase is found less than tion concerning the effects of low-frequency, high-volume, and
vertical jumping (24). More studies are needed for observ- low-intensity PT program in the muscle performance especially
ing the effect of PT on the increase in long distance jump on female players. The results of present study shows that short
from standing still. Increase in vertical jumping perfor- duration (a day per week) PT may result in the development
mance (17.6%) in PG is found to be more than SBJ horizontal and vertical jumping strength, PP, and speed perfor-
(5.2%), and it shows similarity with the results of the study mance of elite female soccer players who have a good level of
of Lehnert et al. (18). This result might be explained by basic and PT. The results indicate that safe, effective, and alter-
having less drill at lateral and horizontal direction than native PT can be useful to strength and conditioning coaches,
vertical direction in our study. especially in competition season where less time is available for
It was stated that PT, which implemented 3 times a week training. Short duration PT program implemented in our study
and for duration of 6–10 weeks, was found to have more might have been suggested for increasing physical capacity,
positives than other programs. Also, it is suggested that treat- which is one of the dominant parameters of elite female soccer
ment with more than 15 sessions increases strength perfor- players, during competitive season.
mance, whereas performance of more than 40 repetitions per
session seemed to be the most beneficial volume (10). How- ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
ever, low training frequency (1 d$wk21) but high jump training The authors thank Marmara University, Female Soccer
volumes and low-intensity (nondeep jump) training model Team players who participated in this study.
used in our study, and which is increased gradually according
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