Effects of a Structured Plyometric Training Program on Physical Fitness among Competitive Hockey Players in Pakistan: A Quasi-Experimental Study

Abstract

This quasi-experimental study investigated the effects of an eight-week structured plyometric training program on physical fitness among competitive male field hockey players in Pakistan, where physical preparation often relies on general running and skill work rather than structured neuromuscular training, despite the sport's demands for repeated accelerations, short sprints, and rapid changes of direction. Forty-two competitive male players aged eighteen to twenty-four years from two training centres were assigned by centre to an experimental group or a comparison group. The experimental group completed three weekly plyometric sessions in addition to regular hockey practice, with contact volume progressing from approximately eighty to one hundred and forty weekly contacts, while the comparison group continued usual practice. Ten-metre, twenty-metre, and thirty-metre sprint times, Illinois agility and T-test times, countermovement jump height, and standing broad jump distance were measured before and after the intervention and analysed with mixed-model analysis of variance. Players who received the plyometric program improved more than comparison players on sprint times, both agility tests, and both jump measures, with significant group-by-time interactions and no time-loss jump-related injuries. These findings indicate that an eight-week structured plyometric program added to regular hockey practice is a feasible and effective method for improving selected physical fitness qualities among competitive hockey players in Pakistan, and can be delivered with limited equipment in ordinary club and academy settings.

Keywords: Plyometric Training; Field Hockey; Physical Fitness; Speed; Agility; Explosive Power; Pakistan; Quasi-Experimental Study