Effects Of Plyometric Training On Power, Speed And Agility Improvement Of U-17 Female Football Players In Ambo Goal Fifa Football Academy, Oromia, Ethiopia

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of plyometric training on power, speed and agility improvement of U-17 female football players in Ambo Goal FIFA Football Academy. The true experimental research design was employed for conducting this study. The total populations of the study were 27 U-17 female football players from the Ambo Goal FIFA Football Academy. The populations were small in numbers; therefore all were taken as a sample by using comprehensive sampling techniques. These samples were classified into Experimental group (N=14) and Control group (N=13) by using simple random sampling techniques. The Experimental group participated in plyometric training for 8 weeks, 3 days per week and 60 minutes duration per day in addition to their regular training. But, the control groups were following their only regular training program. The variables selected for the purpose of this study were power, speed and agility. The tests were vertical jump test, 30m sprint test and Illinois agility test respectively. Both groups were tested before (pre-test) and after (post-test) 8 weeks of plyometric training. For data entry and analysis, SPSS version 26.0 software was employed. The gathered data was analyzed using a paired sample t-test, mean, and standard deviation to observe the difference between pre-test and post-test results of subjects of the study. The significant level p<0.05 was considered. The result of the study shows that after 8 weeks of plyometric training a significant improvement were observed in power (MD=5.5, P<0.001), in speed (MD=0.47, P<0.001) and in agility (MD=0.58, P<0.001) for experimental group subjects. However, there was no significant change (P>0.05) on those variables in control groups. Generally, the finding of study concludes that eight (8) weeks of plyometric training had a significant effect on power, speed and agility improvement of football players. Therefore, football coaches and players are highly recommended to include scientific plyometric training in their training program.