THE EFFECTS OF LOWER BODY PLYOMETRIC TRAINING ON GENERAL MOTOR SKILLS OF MEN FOOTBALL PLAYERS AGED 12-14 YEARS OLD

Study aim(s): The study aim was to determine the effects of plyometric training on general motor skills such as endurance, agility (maneuverability), high-speed strength (jump), and active flexibility in hips and hamstrings muscles of men football players aged 12-14 years old.

Methods: A study sample consists of 24 football players who were 12 of whom belonged to an experimental group and 12 of them belong to the control group. Effects of the 8-week plyometric training program applied once per week besides the football training have been tested by using performance tests such as free arms countermovement jump, 1200 meters jogging test, Illinois agility test, and sit and reach test. The tests have been applied pre and post-training in both experimental and control groups, where differences between groups and changes in time (pre-post tests) have been analyzed by using the paired sample t-test when the significance level was p<0.05.

Results: The result of the 8-week training program has statistically significant differences (p<0.05) between the pre and post-tests of jumping performance, endurance, agility, and flexibility in the experimental group. The same analyses resulted in not being significant in the control group (p>0.05).

Conclusions: Besides the jump performance where improvements were expected because of the experience and clear data in current literature, the improvements in endurance, maneuverability as a factor of agility, and active flexibility which is expressed as a range of motion in football have been improved significantly.