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Effects of a Plyometric Training Program With and Without Added Load on

Jumping Ability in Basketball Players

Article in The Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research · November 2010

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 EFFECTS OF A PLYOMETRIC TRAINING PROGRAM WITH
AND WITHOUT ADDED LOAD ON JUMPING ABILITY IN
BASKETBALL PLAYERS
RIADH KHLIFA,1,2 RIDHA AOUADI,1,2 SOUHAIL HERMASSI,1,2 MOHAMED SOUHAIEL CHELLY,1,2
MOHAMED CHEDLY JLID,1,2 HAMDI HBACHA,1 AND CARLO CASTAGNA3
1
Research Unit ‘‘Evaluation and Analysis of Factors Influencing Sport Performance, Higher Institute of Sport and Physical
Education of Ksar Said, Tunis, Tunisia; 2Higher Institute of Sport and Physical Education of Ksar Said, Tunis, Tunisia; and
3
Degree in Sports Science and Sports, Faculty of Medicine, University of Rome ‘‘Tor Vergata’’, Rome, Italy
ABSTRACT
Khlifa, R, Aouadi, R, Hermassi, S, Chelly, MS, Jlid, MC,
Hbacha, H, and Castagna, C. Effects of a plyometric training
program with and without added load on jumping ability in
basketball players. J Strength Cond Res 24(11): 2955–2961,
2010—The purpose of this investigation was to examine the
effect of a standard plyometric training protocol with or
without added load in improving vertical jumping ability in male
basketball players. Twenty-seven players were randomly
assigned to 3 groups: a control group (no plyometric training),
plyometric training group (PG), and loaded plyometric group
(LPG, weighted vests 10–11% body mass). Before and after
the 10-week training program, all the players were tested for
the 5-jump test (5JT), the squat jump (SJ), and the
countermovement jump (CMJ). The PG and LPG groups
performed 2 and 3 training sessions per week, during the first
3 and the last 7 weeks, respectively. The results showed that
SJ, CMJ, and 5JT were significantly improved only in the PG
and LPG groups. The best effects for jumps were observed
in LPG (p , 0.01), which showed significantly higher gains
than the PG (p , 0.05). In conclusion, it appears that loads
added to standard plyometric training program may result in
greater vertical and horizontal-jump performances in basketball
players.
KEY WORDS team sports, 5-jump test, performance, fitness
training, stretch-shortening cycle, power
Address correspondence to Carlo Castagna, castagnac@libero.it.
24(11)/2955–2961
Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research
Ó 2010 National Strength and Conditioning Association
Copyright © National Strength and Conditioning Association Unauthorized reproduction of this article is prohibited.
INTRODUCTION
B
asketball is a multifaceted team sport that requires
a well-developed anaerobic fitness to be played
successfully (25).
Many authors have suggested that explosive
power in the form of vertical and horizontal jumps is an
important characteristic for elite basketball players (16,21,34).
Furthermore, vertical jump (VJ) ability has been reported to
be related to elite college-players’ playing time (17).
This belief was shown to be shared by the National
Basketball Association strength and conditioning coaches
who reported an extensive use of plyometric exercises to
improve explosive-power performance in elite-level pro-
fessional basketball players (17,30).
Plyometric training has been proposed for the develop-
ment of explosive-power performance and specifically for
the improvement of VJ ability (2,23). However, only few
papers addressed the use of plyometric protocols on
explosive-power performance in men’s basketball (24,26).
Furthermore, the published papers only addressed young
basketball players selectively using drop jumps as
training exercises (24,26). Additionally, no information
was provided regarding the effect of plyometric training on
horizontal-jump performance, an ability that has been
associated with running acceleration performance in
team sports (9).
Luebbers et al. (22) showed that a short-term plyometric
training protocol resulted in significant enhancements in
VJ performance in physically active college-aged men.
Recently, the Luebbers et al. (22) protocol was reported to
positively affect VJ performance in well-trained soccer
players (19). However, to the best of this study authors’
knowledge, no information is available on the effect of this
popular plyometric training protocol in well-trained
basketball players.
Recently, weighted-vest jumping has shown to acutely
enhance jump performance in athletic populations (8,32).
However, no training studies were conducted to test the
added effect of weighted plyometric exercises on jump
VOLUME 24 | NUMBER 11 | NOVEMBER 2010 | 2955
 Plyometric Training in Basketball

Figure 1. Weighted vests (special vests containing weights) worn by the subjects of the loaded plyometric group .

performance (i.e., vertical and horizontal) in basketball
players (34). Information in this regard may result in interest
in optimizing training prescription to strength conditioning
professionals that deal with basketball (34).
TABLE 1. Ten-week plyometric training modified from
Luebbers et al. (22).*
As a result of the above reasoning, the aims of this study
were to examine (a) the effect of a popular short-term
plyometric training (22) on vertical and horizontal-jump
performances in experienced basketball players; and (b) the
possible additive effect of weighted vests on jump perfor-
mance provided in the Luebbert et al. (22) protocol.
As a working hypothesis, it was assumed that loaded
plyometrics would add benefit to unloaded training in
basketball players (19).

Exercise 1 2 3 4–10 METHODS

Vertical jumping 15 (10) 20 (10) 25 (10) 25 (10) Experimental Approach to the Problem
Bounding 3 (10) 4 (10) 5 (10) 5 (10) Recently, Ziv and Lidor (34) suggested the use of plyometrics
Broad jumping 5 (8) 5 (10) 7 (10) 8 (10) to develop jump ability in basketball players. In this study, the
Drop jump 3 (5) 5 (9) 6 (15) 6 (15) development of jumping ability in basketball players was
*Number of sets (number of repetitions). achieved using the plyometric training protocol provided
by Luebbers et al. (22) (Table 1). This protocol involves a
periodized use of vertical and horizontal jumps that proved
the TM

2956 Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research

Copyright © National Strength and Conditioning Association Unauthorized reproduction of this article is prohibited.

TABLE 2. Players’ age and anthropometric characteristics.*†
CG
Age (y) 24.16 6 0.19
Body weight (kg) 82.61 6 0.79
Stature (cm) 192.58 6 0.86
*CG = control group; PG = plyometric training group; LPG = loaded plyometric group.
†Mean 6 SEM.
to increase vertical (i.e., VJs) and horizontal (i.e., short sprints
and broad jumps) explosive power in healthy individuals
(19,22).
To examine the additive effect of loaded plyometrics on
jump performance, a randomly selected group of players
performed the Luebbers et al. (22) protocol using weighted
vests of 10–11% of body mass (3,6,11,15) (see Figure 1). The
training-intervention duration considered in this study was
of 10 weeks according to the typical preseason strength and
conditioning programs usually adopted by elite-level
basketball teams (30). Furthermore, longer and less aggressive
plyometric protocols showed to provide immediate post-
training-intervention improvements in explosive-power per-
formance (22).
To examine the possible time per treatment effects on
jumping performance of plyometric training (22) in male
basketball players, a randomized controlled design was
used. Training outcomes were assumed as VJ height (4) and
distance achieved during 5 horizontal jumps (5JTs) (9).
Vertical- and horizontal-jump performances have been
reported to be relevant performance variables in basketball
(14,17,24,26,30,34).
Subjects
Twenty-seven elite male basketball players (Tunisian First
Professional Division; mean: 23.61 6 0.96 years) who trained
12–15 h
wk21 participated in this study. Players’ anthropo-
metric characteristics (n = 27) are presented in Table 2.
Players were randomly assigned to 2 experimental groups
and 1 control group (CG; n = 9 each). The experimental
groups performed the plyometric training either with
plyometric (loaded plyometric group [LPG]) or without
plyometric (PG) loads. The CG did not perform any other
training intervention than basketball skill development
during the period of the investigation. At the time of the
study, players possessed 12.4 6 3.50 years of basketball
experience. The training intervention took place at the
beginning of the training season as precompetitive prepara-
tion. All players were not involved in any specific training
session but were active during the preceding 4 weeks. During
Copyright © National Strength and Conditioning Association Unauthorized reproduction of this article is prohibited.
the TM
Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research | www.nsca-jscr.org
Groups
PG LPG
23.57 6 0.34 23.11 6 0.32
81.72 6 0.50 83.13 6 0.70
191.73 6 0.52 193.18 6 0.77
the training intervention, all players did not participate in any
other exercise activity other than basketball training and
refrained from strength training. Basketball training at the
time of the investigation consisted mainly of individual and
team skills development and was implemented in the form of
daily sessions 6 times a week (;90 minutes). A competitive
game was played during each weekend. Written informed
consent for all players involved in this investigation was
obtained before the commencement of the study. The study
was reviewed and approved by the Committee on Research
for the Medical Sciences of the University of Tunis before all
the procedures began.
Procedures
Players’ body mass was measured to the nearest 0.1 kg using
an electronic scale (Seca, Hamburg, Germany). Standing
heights were measured using a wall stadiometer (Model
GPM, Seritex, Inc, Carlstadt, NJ, USA). All measurements
were recorded by the same well-trained examiner, using
standard protocols. After familiarization with the testing
procedures undertaken during plyometric training, each
player was instructed and verbally encouraged to give
a maximal effort during all tests. Measurements were taken
before and 48 hours after completing the 10-week training-
study program. The outcome measurements were taken by
assessors who were blind to group allocation and who had no
involvement in the recruitment, the randomization, and the
training of participants.
Basketball players completed the jump test sessions after
a 10-minute warm-up consisting of low-intensity running,
striding, and 5 minutes of coordination movements. Thereafter,
a 5-minute specific warm-up was performed using exercises
mimicking and priming test movements. Three minutes of
recovery separated the warm-up from the tests.
Vertical jump performance was assessed using squat (SJ)
and countermovement (CMJ) jumps according to the
procedures suggested by Bosco et al. (4). Jumping height
was assessed using an infrared photocell mat connected to a
digital computer (Optojump System, Microgate SARL,
Bolzano, Italy). All VJs were performed with hands held on
VOLUME 24 | NUMBER 11 | NOVEMBER 2010 | 2957
 Plyometric Training in Basketball

TABLE 3. Mean 6 SEMs of SJ (cm), CMJ (cm), and 5JT (m) tests before and after plyometric training with and without
added load, for the 3 groups (n = 9 each).*

Variable Test CG LPG PG

SJ Pre 38.61 6 1.12 37.81 6 1.24 38.08 6 1.05

Post 38.87 6 1.13 41.54 6 1.00†‡ 40.28 6 0.92†‡
CMJ Pre 45.20 6 1.25 43.69 6 1.46 44.10 6 1.22
Post 46.02 6 1.53 49.03 6 1.14†‡ 47.20 6 1.07†‡
CMJ–SJ Pre 6.59 6 0.71 5.88 6 0.63 5.04 6 0.80
Post 7.16 6 1.14 7.49 6 0.75† 8.01 6 0.96†
5JT Pre 12.14 6 0.21 12.07 6 0.12 11.69 6 0.19
Post 12.34 6 0.24 12.97 6 0.16†‡ 12.35 6 0.21†‡
*SJ = squat jump; CMJ = countermovement jump; 5JT = 5-jump test; CG = control group; PG = plyometric training group; LPG =
loaded plyometric group.
†Significant difference from pretest to posttest within group at p , 0.01.
‡Significant difference between CG compared to PG or to LPG at p , 0.01.

TABLE 4. Mean values of the difference in magnitudes of vertical jump (SJ and CMJ) and the 5JT performances before and
after plyometric training period with and without added load in the 3 experimental groups (n = 9 for each group).*

Post-SJ 2 pre-SJ (cm) Gain (%) Post-CMJ 2 pre-CMJ(cm) Gain (%) Post-5JT 2 pre-5JT (m) Gain (%)

CG 0.26 6 0.20 0.7 0.82 6 0.40 1.8 0.20 6 0.14 1.6

PG 2.20 6 0.31 5.8 3.10 6 0.42 7 0.66 6 0.14 5.6
LPG 3.73 6 0.35† 9.9 5.34 6 0.55†‡ 12.2 0.91 6 0.10 7.5

*SJ = squat jump; CMJ = countermovement jump; 5JT = 5-jump test; LPG = loaded plyometric training program; CG = control
group; PG = plyometric training group; post = posttest; pre = pretest.
†Significant difference between LPG and PG at p , 0.001.
‡Significant difference between the CMJ and SJ gains p , 0.05 in PG and LPG groups.

the hips and attaining 90° knee flexion at the start of
the push-off phase. Players performed 3 trials of each jump,
and the best of each jump mode was considered for analysis.
According to Bosco et al. (4,5), muscle elastic recoil
was assessed using the CMJ–SJ difference.
The 5JT consists of 5 consecutive strides with joined feet
position at the start and end of the jumps (9). From the
starting joined feet position, the participant was not
allowed to perform any back step with any foot; rather,
he had to directly jump to the front with a leg of his choice.
After the first 4 strides, that is, alternating left and right feet
2 times each, the player had to perform the last stride and
finish the test with joined feet again. If ever the player fell
back at the reception of the last stride, the test was
reperformed. The 5JT performance was measured with
a tape ruler from the front edge of the player’s feet at the
starting position to the rear edge of the feet at the final
position. The assessor at landing had to focus on the last
stride of the player to exactly determine the last footprint
on the grass, because the players could not always stay on
the TM
their feet on landing. The starting position was settled on
a fixed point.
All subjects were tested before and at the completion of the
10-weeks’ training period. Familiarization with the procedure
employed in this study took place during the 2 weeks
preceding the training study. Training was completed twice
a week during the first 3 weeks and 3 times a week for the last
7 weeks (ca. 90 minutes per training session). Recovery times
between repetitions and sets were 15–40 seconds and 2–3
minutes, respectively. To favor training supervision, each
group was in charge of a professional strength and
conditioning coach.
Statistical Analyses
Mean, SDs, and SEM s (SEM = SD/n1/2) were calculated for
all the dependent variables. Values are expressed as mean 6
SEMs. Percentage differences were calculated using the
formula ([post 2 pre]/pre 3 100). The magnitude effect that
represents the difference between means of the dependent

2958 Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research

Copyright © National Strength and Conditioning Association Unauthorized reproduction of this article is prohibited.

variables was calculated using the formula: magnitude =
postmean 2 premean.
Pre to postcomparisons were performed using 2-way
analysis of variance designs. If statistically significant F-values
were detected, a Newman–Keuls post hoc test was used.
Statistical significance was fixed at the p # 0.05 level. The
dependent variables were SJ, CMJ, and 5JT performance.
The intraclass correlation coefficient for the variables used
as training outcome ranged from 0.89 to 0.96 (33). Before
the commencement of the training intervention, a pilot
study was performed to develop power calculations to
guide in sample-size determination. This suggested a min-
imum of 6 subjects per group allocation for a power of
0.80 (10).
RESULTS
Pre to posttraining effects on performance variables are
reported in Table 3. After 10-week training, only the PG and
LPG significantly improved their VJ performance (SJ and
CMJ, p , 0.05). The SJ performance was significantly
improved by 5.8 and 9.9% (i.e., 3.73 and 2.2 cm), in PG and
LPG, respectively (p , 0.05).
The CMJ performance was significantly (p , 0.05)
enhanced by 12.2 and 7% (i.e., 5.34 and 3.1 cm), in LPG
and PG, respectively (Table 4). Performance gains in SJ and
CMJ were significantly higher in PLG compared with in PG
(p , 0.05). The CMJ–SJ value significantly improved in LPG
and PG (Table 3) by 27.4 and 59%, respectively (p , 0.01).
Improvements in 5JT performance were significantly
greater in the LPG than in PG (p , 0.05, Table 3). The
magnitudes of improvements for the 5JT performance were
5.6% (i.e., 66 cm) and 7.5% (i.e., 91 cm) for PG and LPG,
respectively (p , 0.001). No significant changes were
observed for the CG in any of the considered performance
variables (Table 4).
DISCUSSION
The main finding of this study was the improvement of either
vertical- and horizontal-jump performance in basketball
players as a consequence of a multipurpose plyometric
training intervention (i.e., vertical- and horizontal-jump
exercises) (22). This loaded (i.e., 10–11% of body mass)
plyometric training showed to provide a further advantage
over the standard (i.e., body mass) condition (22). This
confirmed our work hypothesis giving evidence that loads
(i.e., ca. 10% of body mass) added to dynamic exercise may
provide training besides acute benefits over explosive-power
performance (8,32).
Vertical jump is a frequent act performed by basketball
players as part of defensive (e.g., blocking, rebounding, and
stealing) and offensive (e.g., passing, rebounding, and
shooting) maneuvers during training and competition (34).
A number of observational studies have been performed to
gain information on the VJ performance of basketball
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players (34). Comparison with published papers showed
that in this study, CMJ and SJ performances were within
the range of those reported for male elite level basketball
players (i.e., 40.1 6 4–43.9 6 4.0 and 39.8 6 3.7–41.5 6 3.0 cm,
respectively) (1,13). This supports the external validity of this
study research design (31).
Longitudinal observational studies that addressed the VJ
performance as a consequence of participation in men’s
basketball training and competitions showed conflicting
results (17,18). Hunter et al. (18) reported no VJ variation
in college basketball players observed during 4 competitive
seasons. In another study (17), a 4.6-cm increase of VJ
performance in varsity players from freshman to senior years
was reported (i.e., 4 seasons). This study’s findings showed
that the short-term plyometric protocol (i.e., 10 weeks)
used induced absolute improvement in VJ expected as a
consequence of long-term basketball training and com-
petitions (17). Given the supposed importance of plyomet-
ric training (34) in basketball, this study’s findings support
the use of the Leubbers et al. (22) protocol with male
basketball players.
Similarly to other studies, plyometric training showed to be
effective in improving VJ performance in a jump-accustomed
population of basketball players (24,26). Specifically, the
magnitude of the improvements experienced by the PG was
within the range of those reported in the international
scientific literature in the athletic population (i.e., 4.7–8.9%)
(23). Interestingly, the loaded plyometric training showed to
produce VJ improvements that exceeded the upper end of
the improvements range (i.e., 10–12%) reported by Markovic
et al. (23).
However, this study’s findings showed the likelihood of a
dose–response effect of plyometric training on VJ perfor-
mance. Indeed, by wearing weighted vests, players were able
to show further improvements in jumping performance. This
extended the descriptive studies by Burkett et al. (8) and
Thompsen et al. (32) that showed acute enhancements of
VJ performance in subjects wearing weighted vests during
warm-up.
In the Burkett et al. (8) study, the use of added loads similar
to those in this investigation (i.e., 10% body mass) has shown
a significant 2.7% improvement on VJ performance in college
football players. This acute VJ improvement was remarkably
lower than the training response found with this study inter-
vention (i.e., 10–12% improvement). Interestingly, the acute
effect of weighted movements seems to be magnified by the
use of body mass increments in the range of 2% (12). As
a consequence of this and other study findings, it could be
speculated that the progressive use of added loads during the
training session may prime (i.e., acute effects) and develop VJ
performance in team-sport players (8,12,32). Training studies
investigating this interesting issue are warranted to provide
evidence.
The chronic wearing (i.e., morning to evening) of weighted
vests (i.e., ;11% body mass) has been reported to sort
VOLUME 24 | NUMBER 11 | NOVEMBER 2010 | 2959
 Plyometric Training in Basketball
a positive effect on explosive-power performance in well-
trained track and field athletes after a 3-week intervention
(3,7). In a noncontrolled training study, the hypergravita-
tional condition induced improvements in VJ performance
quite higher than those achieved by the basketball players of
this study (24 vs. 5–12% improvement, respectively) (5).
However, improvements within the range of this study
findings (i.e., 5–10% p , 0.05) were reported by Bosco et al.
(4) in international-level jumpers and throwers that experi-
enced the hypergravity condition for 3 weeks in a controlled
training study. This study’s findings provided experimental
evidence for the effectiveness of "temporary" hypergravity
(i.e., only during plyometric exercises) intervention on
jumping performance. This issue holds practical interest
because more aggressive treatments (i.e., wearing the vest
morning to evening) may have a limited practical application
(3,7). Another issue of interest would be the cumulative (i.e.
periodized) effect of plyometric training using progressive
(i.e., switching from unloaded to loaded plyometrics) loading
on team-sport players (20).
As expected, the plyometric protocols used in this study
showed to provide a higher improvement magnitude on
stretch-shortening activities such as CMJ and 5JT (23).
Similar results were reported by Bobbert et al. (2) and
Markovic et al. (23). Plyometric training consists of stretch-
shortening cycle movements that involve a high-intensity
eccentric contraction immediately before a rapid and
powerful concentric contraction (2,23). It has been recently
suggested that plyometric training is more effective in
improving VJ performance in the slow stretch-shortening
cycle jumps because it enhances the ability of subjects to
use the elastic and neural benefits of the stretch-shortening
cycle (23). This study supports these suggestions, because
our results indicate that slow stretch-shortening cycle
jumps (i.e., CMJ) are likely to benefit more from plyometric
training than concentric jumps (i.e., SJ). Indeed, according
to the study of Markovic (23), we observed that the gain
obtained with CMJ was significantly greater than that
obtained with SJ (p , 0.05) either in PG or in PLG.
Considering the specificity of contraction-type followed
during training, greater positive effects of plyometric
training on the CMJ than on the SJ can be expected
(23). The supposed reasons underpinning stretch-shorten-
ing performance enhancement as a consequence of
plyometric training are reported to be variation in the
muscle-tendinous ability to store elastic energy and
stimulation of the myotatic reflex during the eccentric
contraction before the upward movement (23,34). In this,
the evidence for a training surface effect on selective
plyometric training outcomes was reported by Impellizzeri
et al. (19). Indeed, those authors reported that SJ
performance enhanced more as a consequence of perform-
ing the Leubbers et al. protocol (22) on the sand compared
with the grass condition (19).
the TM
2960 Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research
Copyright © National Strength and Conditioning Association Unauthorized reproduction of this article is prohibited.
In this study, the training interventions showed to
positively affect the ability to store and successively use
elastic energy in the muscle (i.e., CMJ) in the experimental
groups. However, the documented improvement resulted
independently from jumping training mode (i.e., loaded vs.
unloaded jump training).
The 5JT was used to detect improvements in the use of
the slow stretch-shortening cycle as a result of the plyo-
metric training (27–29). Recently, the 5JT was proposed
to evaluate lower-limb explosive power of athletes com-
peting in team sports (9). Our findings indicate that the
enhancements of VJs in the 2 experimental groups (i.e., PG
and LPG) were accompanied by significant increases of
the 5JT performance (+5.6 and 7.5% for PG and LPG,
respectively). Although greater increases of VJ perform-
ances were observed in the LPG than in the PG condition,
both groups produced comparable improvement in 5JT
performance. This finding may suggest that wearing
loaded vests during plyometric training may exert more
additive effects on VJ.
The results of the present study provided evidence for the
validity of the Luebbers et al. (22) protocol in enhancing vertical
and horizontal jumping abilities in basketball players. The use of
added loads during the Luebbers et al. (22) protocol showed
selective effect on jumping ability (i.e., VJ performance).
PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS
Jumping higher than their counterpart is one of the desired goals
of basketball players irrespective of playing position (34). Failing
to incorporate explosive type training during the competitive
season has been reported to impair explosive performance in
basketball players (34). Furthermore, strength training failed to
show any VJ improvements throughout the season (16). This
study findings provided evidence that the Luebbers et al. (22)
protocol may enhance VJ and 5JT during the preparation phase
of the precompetitive basketball season. Adding loads of 10–
11% of body mass in the form of weighted vests may further
enhance VJ and 5JT gains in performance. Despite the
experimental success of the weighted vests, caution should be
exercised in training prescription when addressing young
female basketball players (14). In the training setup, progression
in loading is strongly encouraged to avoid injury occurrence.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
We declare that the present work complies with the current
laws of the country in which it was performed (Tunisia).
Authors certify that they do not have a financial relation-
ship with the organization that sponsored the research.
The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
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