ArticleJournal of human kinetics2020
Unilateral Plyometric Training is Superior to Volume-Matched Bilateral Training for Improving Strength, Speed and Power of Lower Limbs in Preadolescent Soccer Athletes.
Article in Journal of human kinetics, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 30 papers, 15 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
30 citing papers in PubMed, 15 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 42 citations in OpenAlex.
- Effects of different training modalities on lower-limb explosive power, acceleration, 20-m sprint performance, and change-of-direction ability in youth soccer players: a systematic review and network meta-analysis.BMC sports science, medicine & rehabilitation · 2026Pooled it
- Effects of unilateral training on rapid force production in athletes: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Frontiers in physiology · 2026Pooled it
- The effects of plyometric training on physical fitness in adolescent team sports: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Frontiers in physiology · 2026Pooled it
- Comparative effects of unilateral and bilateral plyometric training on physical fitness in adolescent team-sport athletes: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Frontiers in physiology · 2026Pooled it
- Effects of unilateral versus bilateral training on linear sprint and change-of-direction performance in athletes: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Frontiers in physiology · 2026Pooled it
- Effects of Maturation Stage on Physical Fitness in Youth Male Team Sports Players After Plyometric Training: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Sports medicine - open · 2025Pooled it
- Children's Sprint and Jump Performance after Plyometric-Jump Training: A Systematic Review.Journal of sports science & medicine · 2025Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Unilateral plyometric training effectively reduces lower limb asymmetry in athletes: a meta-analysis.Frontiers in physiology · 2025Pooled it
- The Effects of Strength, Plyometric and Combined Training on Strength, Power and Speed Characteristics in High-Level, Highly Trained Male Youth Soccer Players: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.) · 2024Pooled it
- Effects of diverse resistance training modalities on performance measures in athletes: a network meta-analysis.Frontiers in physiology · 2024Pooled it
- Maximizing plyometric training for adolescents: a meta-analysis of ground contact frequency and overall intervention time on jumping ability: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Scientific reports · 2023Pooled it
- Influence of Strength Training Variables on Neuromuscular and Morphological Adaptations in Prepubertal Children: A Systematic Review.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2023Pooled it
- Effectiveness of plyometric training vs. complex training on the explosive power of lower limbs: A Systematic review.Frontiers in physiology · 2022Pooled it
- Effects of Plyometric Jump Training on Balance Performance in Healthy Participants: A Systematic Review With Meta-Analysis.Frontiers in physiology · 2021Pooled it
- Effects of 12 weeks of complex training on lower limbs strength and power in collegiate dancers.PeerJ · 2026Trial
- Effects of Unilateral, Bilateral and Combined Plyometric Jump Training on Asymmetry of Muscular Strength and Power, and Change-of-Direction in Youth Male Basketball Players.Journal of sports science & medicine · 2024Trial
- Unilateral Plyometric Jump Training Shows Significantly More Effective than Bilateral Training in Improving Both Time to Stabilization and Peak Landing Force in Single-Leg Lend and Hold Test: A Randomized Multi-Arm Study Conducted Among Young Male Basketball Players.Journal of sports science & medicine · 2024Trial
- Comparison of Unilateral and Bilateral Jump Training on Physical Performance Adaptations in Prepubertal and Pubertal Youth Soccer Players.Journal of functional morphology and kinesiology · 2026Article
- Influence of unilateral and bilateral plyometric training integrated with linear sprinting on physical performance in youth male basketball players.Scientific reports · 2026Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
This study compared the effects of unilateral and bilateral plyometric training on strength, sprint performance and lower limb power. Sixty-eight preadolescent soccer athletes were randomly assigned to a unilateral plyometric training group (n=23), a bilateral plyometric training group (n=23) and a control group (n=22). Both plyometric training groups trained with equal volumes of unilateral or bilateral exercises for 15 minutes in each session, at which time the control group performed soccer-specific drills. Plyometric exercises were executed twice weekly for 10 weeks during the competitive season. The following tests were performed before and after the intervention: single-leg and double-leg countermovement jump, squat jump, horizontal jumps in different directions, maximal isometric strength of quadriceps and hamstrings, sprint performance, agility and balance. Unilateral plyometric training resulted in greater improvements compared to the control group in the following variables: hamstrings strength (ES: 0.91, p=0.037), 5m sprint time (ES: 0.93, p=0.004), single-leg countermovement jump (ES: 0.90, p=0.006), single- and double-leg squat jump (ES: 0.87, p=0.030 and ES: 0.73, p=0.067, respectively) and single-leg hop performance (ES: 1.01, p=0.004). The only tests where there was an improvement of BPT compared with the CG were the single-leg and double leg SJ (ES: 0.76, p=0.026; ES: 0.70, p=0.050). Quadriceps strength, side hop test, double-leg horizontal jump test, flamingo balance test and modified agility T-test were equally improved in all three groups (p<0.001). In conclusion, unilateral lower-limb plyometric training is more effective in increasing muscle strength and power in preadolescent soccer players when compared to bilateral training or soccer training alone.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.