Female Team-Sport Athletes' Physical Fitness and Jump Performance Kinematics After Plyometric Jump Training: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.
9 affiliations
- 1Department of Health and Sport Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, South East Technological University (Kilkenny Road Campus), Carlow, Ireland.
- 2Exercise and Rehabilitation Sciences Institute, Faculty of Rehabilitation Sciences, Universidad Andres Bello, 7591538, Santiago, Chile.
- 3Department of Physical Activity Sciences, Universidad de Los Lagos, 8320000, Santiago, Chile.
- 4Department of Sport, Media & Marketing, South East Technological University (Kilkenny Road Campus), Carlow, Ireland.
- 5Department of Sport and Exercise Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, South East Technological University (Cork Road Campus), Waterford, Ireland.
- 6Cardiff School of Sport and Health Sciences, Cardiff Metropolitan University, Cardiff, CF5 2YB, UK.
- 7Department of Coaching Education, Faculty of Sports Sciences, Marmara University, 34815, Istanbul, Turkey.
- 8Symbiosis School of Sports Sciences, Symbiosis International (Deemed University), Pune, 412115, India. [email protected].
- 9Research Group Physical Activity, Performance and Quality of Life, Catholic University of Valencia "San Vicente Mártir", Valencia, Spain.
Abstract
Background
Plyometric jump training (PJT) can improve athletes' physical fitness across a range of sports and populations. Nonetheless, the role of PJT in adult female team-sport athletes' fitness, jump performance, and kinematics remains unclear, particularly given the increasing number of published, heterogeneous studies.Objectives
This systematic review aimed to first examine the effectiveness of PJT in improving physical fitness and jump-performance kinematics in adult female team-sport athletes, and second, to provide evidence-based recommendations for PJT prescription for this population.Methods
A systematic literature search was conducted in the PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, and EBSCO databases up to March 2026. The included studies recruited healthy female team-sport athletes (mean age: ≥ 18 years), incorporated a PJT programme ≥ 2 weeks in duration, included comparator groups, and assessed athletes' physical fitness, jump performance, and/or kinematics. The risk of bias (RoB) was assessed using the Physiotherapy Evidence Database scale. Hedges' g effect sizes (ES) with 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs) were reported using a random-effects model for meta-analyses. Statistical significance was set at p ≤ 0.05. Subgroup analyses were conducted based on the participant characteristics (height, body mass, sport) and PJT programming variables (duration, frequency, total sessions, weekly total jumps). The certainty of evidence was assessed using GRADE.Results
Thirty-one articles were included (n = 609 participants), and 25 were meta-analysed. Two studies were categorised with high RoB (≤ 3 points), 20 studies achieved moderate RoB (4-5 points), and 9 studies achieved low RoB (≥ 6 points). Compared to controls, PJT improved countermovement jump (CMJ) height (ES = 0.550, p < 0.001), CMJ peak concentric velocity (ES = 0.623, p = 0.011), drop jump (DJ) reactive strength index (RSI) (ES = 0.926, p = 0.001), DJ height (ES = 0.721, p = 0.002), 10 m sprint time (ES = 0.712, p = 0.032), 20 m sprint time (ES = 0.709, p < 0.001), 30 m sprint time (ES = 1.018, p = 0.001), non-linear (agility) Illinois test time (ES = 1.225, p < 0.001) and T test sprint time (ES = 0.965, p < 0.001). Compared to PJT ≤ 6 weeks, longer interventions favoured DJ RSI (p = 0.008), 10 m sprint time (p = 0.001), and Illinois agility test time (p < 0.001). Impact of heterogeneity (I²) remained low (≤ 0.06%) in five analyses and moderate in the other four analyses (≤ 73.1%). The certainty of evidence was considered low to moderate for the study outcomes. Two studies reported that a total of three participants possibly sustained an injury during PJT.Conclusions
Adult female team-sport athletes' fitness, jump performance, and kinematics improved after PJT when compared to the control condition, including CMJ height, CMJ peak concentric velocity, DJ RSI, linear sprint speed, and non-linear (agility) sprint speed. The improvements were particularly notable with longer interventions (≥ 8 weeks).Trial registration
https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/NERCY.
Related
- Effects of a Four-Week Progressive Plyometric Programme on Flying Shoot Performance in Female University Handball Athletes: A Quasi-Experimental Controlled Pretest–Posttest Study
- Effects of Oral Vitamin D Supplementation on Physical Performance in Combat-Sport Athletes: A Systematic Review of Randomized Placebo-Controlled Trials
- Effects of plyometric vs. traditional resistance training on kick performance and anaerobic power in elite taekwondo athletes.
- Effects of pre-competition conditioning strategies on acute sport performance in high-level athletes: a systematic review and network meta-analysis
- Effects of core training on physical fitness in trained adolescent athletes: a systematic review and meta-analysis
BibTeX
@article{lane2026female,
title = {{Female Team-Sport Athletes' Physical Fitness and Jump Performance Kinematics After Plyometric Jump Training: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.}},
author = {Andrew Lane and Rodrigo Ramirez-Campillo and Philip Connors and Richard Bolger and Jeremy A Moody and Rohit K Thapa and Paul J Byrne},
journal = {Sports medicine - open},
year = {2026},
month = nov,
doi = {10.1186/s40798-026-01136-4},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42970020},
note = {CC BY-NC-ND},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Female Team-Sport Athletes' Physical Fitness and Jump Performance Kinematics After Plyometric Jump Training: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.
AU - Andrew Lane
AU - Rodrigo Ramirez-Campillo
AU - Philip Connors
AU - Richard Bolger
AU - Jeremy A Moody
AU - Rohit K Thapa
AU - Paul J Byrne
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/11/02
JO - Sports medicine - open
DO - 10.1186/s40798-026-01136-4
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42970020
AB - Background Plyometric jump training (PJT) can improve athletes' physical fitness across a range of sports and populations. Nonetheless, the role of PJT in adult female team-sport athletes' fitness, jump performance, and kinematics remains unclear, particularly given the increasing number of published, heterogeneous studies.Objectives This systematic review aimed to first examine the effectiveness of PJT in improving physical fitness and jump-performance kinematics in adult female team-sport athletes, and second, to provide evidence-based recommendations for PJT prescription for this population.Methods A systematic literature search was conducted in the PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, and EBSCO databases up to March 2026. The included studies recruited healthy female team-sport athletes (mean age: ≥ 18 years), incorporated a PJT programme ≥ 2 weeks in duration, included comparator groups, and assessed athletes' physical fitness, jump performance, and/or kinematics. The risk of bias (RoB) was assessed using the Physiotherapy Evidence Database scale. Hedges' g effect sizes (ES) with 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs) were reported using a random-effects model for meta-analyses. Statistical significance was set at p ≤ 0.05. Subgroup analyses were conducted based on the participant characteristics (height, body mass, sport) and PJT programming variables (duration, frequency, total sessions, weekly total jumps). The certainty of evidence was assessed using GRADE.Results Thirty-one articles were included (n = 609 participants), and 25 were meta-analysed. Two studies were categorised with high RoB (≤ 3 points), 20 studies achieved moderate RoB (4-5 points), and 9 studies achieved low RoB (≥ 6 points). Compared to controls, PJT improved countermovement jump (CMJ) height (ES = 0.550, p < 0.001), CMJ peak concentric velocity (ES = 0.623, p = 0.011), drop jump (DJ) reactive strength index (RSI) (ES = 0.926, p = 0.001), DJ height (ES = 0.721, p = 0.002), 10 m sprint time (ES = 0.712, p = 0.032), 20 m sprint time (ES = 0.709, p < 0.001), 30 m sprint time (ES = 1.018, p = 0.001), non-linear (agility) Illinois test time (ES = 1.225, p < 0.001) and T test sprint time (ES = 0.965, p < 0.001). Compared to PJT ≤ 6 weeks, longer interventions favoured DJ RSI (p = 0.008), 10 m sprint time (p = 0.001), and Illinois agility test time (p < 0.001). Impact of heterogeneity (I²) remained low (≤ 0.06%) in five analyses and moderate in the other four analyses (≤ 73.1%). The certainty of evidence was considered low to moderate for the study outcomes. Two studies reported that a total of three participants possibly sustained an injury during PJT.Conclusions Adult female team-sport athletes' fitness, jump performance, and kinematics improved after PJT when compared to the control condition, including CMJ height, CMJ peak concentric velocity, DJ RSI, linear sprint speed, and non-linear (agility) sprint speed. The improvements were particularly notable with longer interventions (≥ 8 weeks).Trial registration https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/NERCY.
SN - 2199-1170
SN - 2198-9761
ER -