Football can be described as a high intensity team sport that can involve as many as 150-250 brief intense actions at elite level(Bangsbo, et al 2006). However the necessity of these actions and the type of high intensity action required is position specific, e.g. a full back may be required to perform 157 high-intensity activities, whereas a centre half may be required on average to perform 112 per game. (Thandani 2013) The position specific requirements and differentiation occur in many other aspects of performance, for example research into physical characteristics of elite level German Bundesliga players found full backs to average a height of 179.9cm and weight of 74.3kg, significantly lower than the average height and weight of 184.3cm
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(Srivastva 2013) However a plethora of sources exist as to the optimal training technique required to enhance power, and in particular vertical jump height, in football players. Mainly the use of bounding and jumping involved in plyometric training has been an effective way of increasing power output in particular relation to vertical jump height. This was identified by Markovic (2007), in the meta-analysis of studies looking into the effect of plyometric training on vertical jump height, he concluded that height gains were made over relatively short training programmes (mean improvements of 8.7% for a CMJ and 7.5% for CMJ with arm swing) (Markovic). This meta-analysis combined the results of 26 different studies with similar variables, which increases the validity of the results concluded, however the studies were not sport-specific and therefore cannot be used to assess the effectiveness of plyometric training on footballers, as identified earlier, the physical characteristics of players differ greatly to un-trained participants. As a result its weight as an assessor can only be gained when used in conjunction with football specific studies for example (Meylan 2009)where an 8 week plyometric training regime combined with regular football training in young players saw improvements in CMJ of 7.9% on average, adding weight to Markovic’s findings as similar gains were replicated. The findings from Meylan (2009) are not necessarily representative however, as the results were taken from pre-pubescent players (aged 13) whose musculo-skeletal system is still developing and therefore the adaptions from training may not mimic that of older players. Therefore results from Campo (2009), and Thomas (2009) are needed to support the conclusions from Markovic and Meylan into the
(Srivastva 2013) However a plethora of sources exist as to the optimal training technique required to enhance power, and in particular vertical jump height, in football players. Mainly the use of bounding and jumping involved in plyometric training has been an effective way of increasing power output in particular relation to vertical jump height. This was identified by Markovic (2007), in the meta-analysis of studies looking into the effect of plyometric training on vertical jump height, he concluded that height gains were made over relatively short training programmes (mean improvements of 8.7% for a CMJ and 7.5% for CMJ with arm swing) (Markovic). This meta-analysis combined the results of 26 different studies with similar variables, which increases the validity of the results concluded, however the studies were not sport-specific and therefore cannot be used to assess the effectiveness of plyometric training on footballers, as identified earlier, the physical characteristics of players differ greatly to un-trained participants. As a result its weight as an assessor can only be gained when used in conjunction with football specific studies for example (Meylan 2009)where an 8 week plyometric training regime combined with regular football training in young players saw improvements in CMJ of 7.9% on average, adding weight to Markovic’s findings as similar gains were replicated. The findings from Meylan (2009) are not necessarily representative however, as the results were taken from pre-pubescent players (aged 13) whose musculo-skeletal system is still developing and therefore the adaptions from training may not mimic that of older players. Therefore results from Campo (2009), and Thomas (2009) are needed to support the conclusions from Markovic and Meylan into the