The effect of aquatic plyometrics and land plyometrics on structural and biomotorical features of adolescent basketball players

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of aquatic plyometrics and land plyometrics on structural and biomotorical features of adolescent basketball players.Ninety-one adolescent basketball players (48 male, 43 female) between the ages of 13-18 were enrolled in the study. Athletes were randomly allocated in to three groups; aquatic plyometric exercise group (n:31), land plyometric exercise group (n:30) and control group n:30). Study period was 12 weeks. All groups had standardized basketball training exercise. Aquatic and land exercise groups also had plyometrics three times a week. Structural and biomotorical features including; body mass index, one repetition maximum leg strength, 30 meter sprint, vertical jump, flexibility were measured. SPSS 11,5 version was used for the data analysis. ? One Way ANOVA? was used to compare pretest and post test findings of study groups. Diffrences between pretest and psottest findings of genders and groups were analyzed by ?Two Way ANOVA For Independent Sapmles?. Significance was set at p<.05Significant differences were detected on structural and biomotorical features between pretest and posttest results in both aquatic and land plyometric exercise groups. But there were no statistically significant differences between both groups. After the study period there were also statistically significant differences between control and plyometric exercise groups.Both aquatic and land plyometric exercises can be used to improve the sportive perfromance of adolescent athletes. Further studies are need to determine the effects of these type of exercises on different age and athlete groups.Key words: Plyometric exercise, aquatic plyometrics, adolescent, basketball