The effect of plyometric trainings on sprint performance in handball: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Handball is one of the fastest-played team sports and contains many explosive movement patterns in the game. Strength training is used to develop explosive movement patterns such as jumping, agility and sprinting. One of these strength training used is plyometric training, and it is stated in the literature that it improves sprint performance in handball. The aim of this research is to evaluate the general effect level of plyometric training on sprint performance in handball, to determine the moderator variables that are thought to affect performance, and to reach a general judgment with the findings obtained from individual studies. In order to achieve this aim, the model of the research is a systematic compilation and meta-analysis approach. In the systematic compilation phase of the research, the literature was searched through Google Scholar, Pubmed, Web Of Science and Scopus databases, the TESTEX scale was used for the risk of bias and methodological quality evaluation as a result of the scanning, and 13 studies that met the quality standards were included in the research. The meta-analysis phase of the research was carried out with Revman (Ver. 5.4.1), R (Ver. 4.1.0) and SPSS (Ver. 2.0) package programs. At this stage, the random-effects model was used to estimate the overall effect size, and the Hedges'g index with a 95% confidence interval was used to estimate the individual effect size of the studies. As a result of the analyses, it was determined that plyometric training and handball training had a moderate to very large effect on sprint performance at different distances. The smallest of the moderate effects was found in the 20-meter sprint performance (EB=0.92[0.12-1.71], Z=2.27 [p= 0.02]), and the sprint distance in which plyometric training had the greatest effect. It was 30 meters (EB=2.11[1.02-3.33], Z=3.70 [p= 0.0002]). The effect of plyometric training against the control group could not be determined against different strength training. The subgroups listed as a result of the moderator analyzes had an advantage over the other subgroups in sprint development; >6 weeks for 10m sprint (EB=1.22), 2 days for 30m sprint (EB=2.53), ≤16 years and under (EB=3.77), ≤98 and below jump (EB) =5.38)), >6 weeks (EB=2.56). However, this significant effect between the subgroups was not found in other sprint distances. No study included in the study reported injury after plyometric training. As a result, it has been determined that plyometric training to be done in addition to handball training is an effective and reliable method for sprint development.