Effects of speed, agility, and quickness training on grass versus sand surface on sprinting, jumping, and change of direction performance of amateur male soccer players

Abstract

Study aim: The study compared the effects of speed, agility, and quickness (SAQ) training performed on grass versus sand surfaces on improvements in sprinting, jumping, and change of direction speed (CODS). Materials and methods: Twenty-four male university soccer players were randomly assigned to SAQ training on grass or sand surfaces. The intervention lasted four weeks with a weekly frequency of two sessions. The variables assessed were 30-m linear sprint, CODS, countermovement jump (CMJ), drop jump (DJ; jump height, ground contact time [GCT], reactive strength index [RSI]), squat jump (SJ), standing long jump (SLJ), and triple-hop distance. A two-by-two mixed design ANOVA was used to analyze the training effects. Results: A significant positive main effect of time was observed for CMJ, DJ, and SJ height (p < 0.001) and triple-hop distance, with significant pre-to-post improvement in both groups (all p < 0.001). In addition, a negative main effect of time was observed for DJ GCT and DJ RSI (p = <0.001–0.024), with a significant increase in DJ GCT for both groups but a significant decrease in DJ RSI only for the group training on sand. No main effect of time was found for the 30-m linear sprint, CODS, or SLJ distance (p = 0.080–0.792). An interaction effect on CMJ height was noted (p = 0.027), favoring the group training on the sand surface. Conclusion: SAQ training on grass and sand surfaces showed similar improvements in the DJ, SJ, and triple-hop performance. However, compared to the grass surface, training on the sand surface induced greater improvements in CMJ but showed negative effects on DJ RSI.