The influence of training surface on the effectiveness of plyometric training on physical fitness attributes of volleyball players.

The objective of the present study was to examine the impact of different plyometric training (PT) surfaces on the adaptive changes of jumping ability, sprinting speed, change of direction ability and strength performance in volleyball players. Forty male players participated in the study and were divided into four equal groups performing PT in aquatic (APT), sand (SPT), and land (LPT) surfaces, or an active control group (CON). All training groups indicated small to large significant (p = 0.001) improvements in countermovement vertical jump (CMVJ), standing long jump (SLJ), spike jump, block jump, 10-m sprint, T-test, and maximal strength after the 6 weeks of progressive volume-based overload PT and in comparison to CON group (p < 0.05). Both the APT (standardized mean difference [SMD] = 0.97, p = 0.01) and SPT (SMD = 1.10, p = 0.04) exhibited superior training advancements compared to LPT in the CMVJ performance. Notably, the APT displayed significantly greater improvements than the LPT in SLJ (SMD = 0.31, p = 0.043), sprint (SMD = -0.63, p = 0.028), T-test, (SMD = -0.46, p = 0.022) and strength (SMD = 0.61, p = 0.03) performance. Based on these results, it is recommended that incorporating APT and SPT induced greater training benefits than LPT in the CMVJ, while the application of APT is suggested for greater enhancing in linear sprint, change of direction ability, and maximal strength compared to land training method.