Acute effects of speed-jumping intervention training on selected motor ability determinants: Judo vs. soccer

© 2019, the Authors. Background and Study Aim: Material and Methods: Results: Conclusions: Judo and soccer are both representatives of complex sports where speed, power, superior motor skills, and excellent technical and tactical knowledge is of great importance. These factors strongly affect the final result of competitive performance. The purpose of this study was the effect of a short high-intensity specific speed-jumping training program on the improvement of the explosive power of lower extremities and simple, and complex responses between judo and soccer. Twenty-six athletes were divided into two groups: 13 judokas and 13 soccer players, participated in the experiment. They were tested pre-and post-implementation of the 4 weeks high-intensity specific speed-jumping training program which included various skips, bounds, hops, jumps in vertical, horizontal and mixed directions, sprints and groups of starts from lying positions on different signals: sound, visual and light. The pre-and post-experimen-tal protocol included two horizontal jumps: standing long jump and standing triple jump, and one vertical jump – lateral ski jumps to indirectly assess lower-body power, maximal running velocity; a 20 m from standing and flying start sprint. Additionally, athletes underwent a simple and complex reaction time measurement. A one–way ANOVA and an independent t-test for establishing differences between those two groups were applied. The short-term speed-jumping intervention training significantly increased the explosive power of lower extremities, both vertical and horizontal jumping improvement and complex reaction times in judokas. The substantial differences between groups occurred in the 20 m sprint from flying and standing and lateral ski jumps. Training in individual sports, such as judo, focused on improving dynamic capabilities (power and maximum speed combined with reaction time) and training in other sports, e.g., football (soccer), also focused on the dynamization of movement structures will bring similar results. In judo a short high-intensity specific speed-jumping training program could prove beneficial when intentionally used in the tapering phase with low volume and high-intensity training regime to increase explosive power and response time

Methodological Characteristics and Future Directions for Plyometric Jump Training Research: A Scoping Review

Recently, there has been a proliferation of published articles on the effect of plyometric jump training, including several review articles and meta-analyses. However, these types of research articles are generally of narrow scope. Furthermore, methodological limitations among studies (e.g., a lack of active/passive control groups) prevent the generalization of results, and these factors need to be addressed by researchers. On that basis, the aims of this scoping review were to (1) characterize the main elements of plyometric jump training studies (e.g., training protocols) and (2) provide future directions for research. From 648 potentially relevant articles, 242 were eligible for inclusion in this review. The main issues identified related to an insufficient number of studies conducted in females, youths, and individual sports (~ 24.0, ~ 37.0, and ~ 12.0% of overall studies, respectively); insufficient reporting of effect size values and training prescription (~ 34.0 and ~ 55.0% of overall studies, respectively); and studies missing an active/passive control group and randomization (~ 40.0 and ~ 20.0% of overall studies, respectively). Furthermore, plyometric jump training was often combined with other training methods and added to participants' daily training routines (~ 47.0 and ~ 39.0% of overall studies, respectively), thus distorting conclusions on its independent effects. Additionally, most studies lasted no longer than 7 weeks. In future, researchers are advised to conduct plyometric training studies of high methodological quality (e.g., randomized controlled trials). More research is needed in females, youth, and individual sports. Finally, the identification of specific dose-response relationships following plyometric training is needed to specifically tailor intervention programs, particularly in the long term