Purpose: The aim of this study was to analyze the effects of plyometric training direction on jumping, sprinting, and change-of-direction ability in basketball players.
Methods: Forty male basketball players (21.8 [3.8] y), from 4 teams that competed in regional and national championships, were randomly assigned to 1 of 4 groups: (1) vertical jump group, (2) horizontal jump group, (3) vertical and horizontal jump group, and (4) control group. The subjects followed a plyometric training program twice a week for 6 weeks, differing in the execution direction of the jumps. All groups performed the same total training volume of acyclic and cyclic jumps controlled through the number of contacts per session. Pretraining and posttraining measurements included (1) rocket jump, (2) Abalakov jump, (3) horizontal jump, (4) 20-m linear sprint, and (5) V-Cut change-of-direction test.
Results: The vertical and horizontal jump group showed significant increases in all performance variables examined, except for linear sprint performance, in which no group improved. The vertical jump group showed significant improvements in rocket jump and Abalakov jump (P < .01), but worsened significantly in terms of sprint performance (P < .05). The horizontal jump group showed significant increases in rocket jump and horizontal jump (P < .001-.01). Furthermore, all experimental groups showed improved V-Cut change-of-direction test performance.
Conclusions: These results indicate that combining vertical and horizontal jumps induces improvements in more capabilities than does training only vertical or horizontal jumps with the same training volume. Training only vertical or horizontal jumps will improve performance mainly in vertically or horizontally oriented tasks, respectively.
Keywords: force application direction; jump training; stretch-shortening cycle; team sports.