Journal of African Development

The present study aimed to investigate the effects of plyometric training and weight training on selected motor ability components namely muscular endurance, coordination and flexibility among inter-collegiate women volleyball players. Forty-five (N = 45) inter- collegiate women volleyball players aged 19–23 years, representing from the affiliated colleges of Bharathidasan University, Tiruchirappalli, Tamil Nadu, India, were randomly assigned to three equal groups (n = 15 each): the Plyometric Training Group (PTG), the Weight Training Group (WTG) and the Control Group (CG). The experimental groups participated in their respective training programmes for twelve weeks, with three sessions per week on alternate days in addition to their regular volleyball practice, whereas the control group continued only with regular volleyball activities. Muscular endurance, coordination and flexibility were assessed by using the sit-up test, wall toss test and sit-and-reach test respectively before and after the training intervention. The collected data were analyzed using Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) and whenever a significant F-ratio was obtained, Scheffé's post hoc test was applied to determine paired mean differences. The level of significance was set at p < 0.05. The findings revealed that both plyometric training and weight training produced significant improvements in muscular endurance, coordination and flexibility compared with the control group. Furthermore, the plyometric training group demonstrated significantly greater improvements than the weight training group across all selected motor ability components. It was concluded that plyometric training is a more effective training modality than weight training for enhancing selected motor abilities among inter-collegiate women volleyball players