The effect of aquatic and land plyometric training on the vertical jump and delayed onset muscle soreness in Brazilian soccer players

Purpose
To compare the effects of aquatic and land plyometric training on the vertical jump (VJ) and delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) in soccer players.

Methods
Twenty-four male soccer players aged 16–18 years (16.53 ± 0.5 years) were randomly divided into three groups: aquatic plyometric training (APT) (n = 8; age: 16.4 ± 0.4 years; body mass: 68.3 ± 7.54 kg; height: 179.75 ± 8.13 cm); land plyometric training (LPT) (n = 8; age: 16.5 ± 0.5 years; body mass: 68.2 ± 7.8 kg; height: 177.0 ± 7.4 cm); and control group (n = 8; age: 16.7 ± 0.6 years; body mass: 61.2 ± 6.5 kg; height: 171.43 ± 5.75 cm), not performing any jump program. An identical training program was applied for 6 weeks, totalling 944 jumps. The VJ was evaluated on a leap jump platform and the Visual Analogue Scale measured the change in DOMS perception.

Results
There was a significant increase in the VJ height in both experimental groups (LPT and APT) (p < 0.05). A significant reduction in DOMS perception was verified for the APT group in comparison with the LPT group (p < 0.05) between the first and last week of training. The foot contact time significantly decreased (p < 0.05) in the APT group from pre- to posttest. Significant improvements (p < 0.05) were observed in the flight time and jump speed from pre- to post-test in both LPT and APT groups.

Conclusions
APT can increase the VJ height and reduce DOMS perception in soccer players.