| The purpose of the study was to determine if six weeks of plyometric
training can improve an athlete's agility. Subjects were divided into
two groups, a plyometric training and a control group. The plyometric
training group performed in a six week plyometric training program
and the control group did not perform any plyometric training techniques.
All subjects participated in two agility tests: T-test and Illinois
Agility Test, and a force plate test for ground reaction times both
pre and post testing. Univariate ANCOVAs were conducted to analyze
the change scores (post - pre) in the independent variables by group
(training or control) with pre scores as covariates. The Univariate
ANCOVA revealed a significant group effect F2,26 = 25.42, p=0.0000
for the T-test agility measure. For the Illinois Agility test, a significant
group effect F2,26 = 27.24, p = 0.000 was also found. The plyometric
training group had quicker posttest times compared to the control
group for the agility tests. A significant group effect F2,26 = 7.81,
p = 0.002 was found for the Force Plate test. The plyometric training
group reduced time on the ground on the posttest compared to the control
group. The results of this study show that plyometric training can
be an effective training technique to improve an athlete's agility.
KEY
WORDS: Jumping, training, performance variables, quickness.
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