Effect of Six-week Plyometric and Resistance Band Training on Badminton Overhead Clear Stroke in 12 Years Old Players

This study examined the effect of plyometric and resistance band training on overhead clear stroke of 12 years old badminton players via a 6-week intervention comprising plyometric and resistance band training sessions. The participants were ninety players (age, 12 years; height, 1.4-1.5m; body mass 30-40kg) comprised of 3 groups; plyometric training (n=30), resistance band training (n=30) and control group (n=30). The players completed the plyometric and resistance band training sessions. The badminton overhead clear stroke performance test (Onn, 1993) was conducted on 3 groups before and after the 6-weeks training. An ANCOVA was used to determine the changes between conditions and revealed the plyometric training significantly improved badminton overhead clear stroke (p< 0.05); pre: 5.20 +/- 0.49, post: 7.30 +/- 0.50 compared with resistance training (p< 0.05); pre: 5.21 +/- 0.31, post: 6.57 +/- 0.36 and control group (p< 0.05); pre: 5.22 +/- 0.29, post: 5.37 +/- 0.30. Although both experimental groups demonstrated a significant improvement as compared to the control group, the plyometric group showed a significant improvement as compared to the resistance group. Findings showed that 6 weeks of plyometric training was more effective compared with resistance band training in improving the performance of badminton overhead clear stroke.