The effects of plyometric training on physical fitness in adolescent team sports: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Abstract

Objectives: This systematic review and meta-analysis examined the effects of plyometric training (PT) on the physical fitness of adolescent team-sport athletes. Methods: We systematically searched the PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, and Embase databases. The methodological quality of the studies was evaluated using the Cochrane Risk of Bias Tool (ROB-2). Meta-analyses were conducted using RevMan 5.4 and STATA 15.0. Results: A total of 31 studies involving 1,033 athletes (906 males and 127 females) were ultimately included. PT improved jump performance, including countermovement jump (ES = 0.89), countermovement jump with arms (ES = 1.00), squat jump (ES = 0.48), and standing long jump (ES = 1.10). PT also improved linear sprint over ≤10-m (ES = −0.59), 20-m (ES = −0.42), and 30-m (ES = −0.97), and improved change-of-direction (ES = −0.73). Conclusion: Plyometric training can significantly improve the jumping performance, linear sprint and change-of-direction in adolescent team-sport athletes. Athletes aged 16–18.99 years may show larger improvements, and interventions lasting ≥8 to <10 weeks may be associated with more consistent gains, particularly for Countermovement Jump, SJ, ≤10-m linear sprint, and 20-m linear sprint. In contrast, increasing the total number of jumps was not consistently associated with greater training effects. Systematic Review Registration: https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/, identifier CRD420251034889.