Application of Plyometric Training in Injury Prevention among Kabaddi Players

Abstract

Kabaddi is a physically demanding contact sport involving explosive movements, rapid acceleration and deceleration, tackling, jumping, lunging and multidirectional body actions. Such repeated high intensity movements expose athletes to a high incidence of musculoskeletal injuries especially among the school level players who often lack scientifically designed conditioning programs. Plyometric training has been shown to be an effective neuromuscular conditioning method to increase muscular power, joint stability, agility, balance, proprioception, and movement efficiency. The present study was aimed to investigate the application of plyometric training in injury prevention among school level Kabaddi players. Sixty male Kabaddi players of age group 12-16 years were randomly distributed in experimental group (n=30) and control group (n=30). The experimental group underwent a structured plyometric training program for 24 weeks in addition to their normal practice sessions and the control group experienced conventional training only. Variables concerning injury prevention were measured before and after the intervention including muscle strength, agility, balance, fatigue resistance, movement control and heart rate recovery. Statistical analysis with mean, standard deviation, independent t-test and repeated measures ANOVA showed significant improvement in all the selected variables in the experimental group (p < 0.05). The experimental group demonstrated higher percentage improvements for balance (32.7%), joint stability (24.8%), agility (13.1%) and fatigue resistance (25.0%) than the control group. The results suggest plyometric training improves neuromuscular coordination, dynamic balance and lower body stability and therefore reduces the injury risk factors in Kabaddi players. The study concludes that plyometric training must be systematically embraced in the school-level Kabaddi conditioning programs, to enhance the athletic safety and long-term development of performance.