Effect of Plyometric Training Conducted in Aquatic Medium on Speed and Explosive Strength of the Athletes

Background: Plyometric training (PT) are performed in different hard surfaces like dry land, hard court or grassy turf which is at the same time susceptible to muscle and joint injury of the lower limbs. To avoid this risk Aqua-based training gradually has become popular to the trainers. Therefore, in the present study the PT were conducted in an aquatic medium. Objective: The purpose of the present study was to investigate the effect of Aquatic plyometric training on speed and explosive leg strength ability of the young Indian athletes. Method: This study was quasi-experimental in nature. Twenty-four (N = 24) athletes aged between 14-16 years were selected. They were equally grouped into two: i) Aquatic Plyometric Training Group (APTG, N=12), and ii) Control Group (CG, N=12). Both the groups were involved in regular physical activity as usual in their academy which was not under the control of the researchers, however, in addition to that APTG underwent an aqua-based Plyometric training for fourteen weeks. The dependent variables were speed and explosive leg strength. Baseline (pre) and post intervention mean values for APTG and CG were analyzed through ANCOVA. The F-values were tested at p0.05 level of significance. Results: The APTG improved significantly with respect to the CG in speed (F = 70.890; p 0.00001) and explosive leg strength (F = 32.553; p 0.00001). Conclusion: Aquatic Plyometric Training was found as an effective training means for the development of speed and explosive leg strength of the athletes belongs to the age group of 14-16 years.