Dose Response of Plyometric Training on Agility in Cricket Players

Cricket is considered as one of the world's major team sports in terms of regular international games. It is similar to the game of baseball generally played outdoors on natural grass fields. As cricket is a bat and ball sport. Bowling action is explosive in nature; whereby a large amount of force must be generated over a very short period of time. They discussed that fast bowlers have consistently been identified as the category of cricket players at the greatest risk of injury. Bowling action is a highly skilled activity, which is acquired over years of fine tuning. Equally from a neuromuscular perspective, the bowling action is a complex activity and optimal performance is a result of highly tuned inter-muscular and intra-muscular coordination, which is governed by the central nervous system. It has been shown that recently modern training techniques and in particularly strength training, has been perceived to be a major contributing factor to the recent injuries sustained at a national level.

In many sports straight sprinting speed and agility are considered important qualities. Straight line sprinting is a relatively closed skill involving predictable and planned movements and is used in sports such as track and field and gymnastics. It is difficult to define agility, as it is the ability to change direction and start and stop quickly. In a sporting situation, changes of direction may be initiated to either pursue or evade an opponent or react to a moving ball. Therefore, it has been recognized that a component of agility performance is the response to a stimulus. Further Chelladurai and Yuhasz demonstrated that a change of direction task with a simple stimulus shared only 31% common variance with a more complex task in which the timing and location of the stimulus were not known. It has been shown that up-and-back sprint time of 2.4-m increased as a light stimulus became less predictable in terms of timing and location, presumably because of increased information processing.This suggests that having to react to a stimulus such as an opponent's movement on the field may significantly influence the nature of the change-of-direction movement task.

Several studies have reported correlations between straight sprint tests and various agility tests. When a correlation coefficient (r) is less than 0.71, the shared or common variance between the 2 variables is less than 50%, indicating that they are specific or somewhat independent in nature. Hortobagyi et al. used this statistical approach to demonstrate that various modes of strength testing indicated more generality (r ˃ 0.71) of strength than specificity (r ˂ 0.71). Common variances of 11% and 22% have been reported, respectively, for straight sprints and a soccer agility test and the Illinois agility test. Further, these investigators conducted a factor analysis on several fitness test results and found the speed and agility tests to be represented by different factors. This meant that speed and agility had little in common statistically, leading the authors to conclude that they were relatively independent qualities.

In 1969, a study was conducted that compared the effects of speed and agility training on various fitness parameters. The study reported that agility training was superior to speed training for performance in the Illinois agility run and a ''zig-zag run'' but the speed training was not significantly better for improving 50-yd sprint time. Unfortunately, the authors failed to describe the training that was implemented, making it difficult to evaluate the effects. Since the potential specificity of speed and agility training has not yet been clearly established, the purpose of the present study was to determine if straight sprint training transferred to change-of-direction tests of varying complexities. Another objective was to determine if agility training could enhance straight sprinting speed. Plyometric consists of a rapid stretching of a muscle (eccentric action) immediately followed by a concentric or shortening action of the same muscle and connective tissue. Plyometric drills usually involve stopping, starting, and changing directions in an explosive manner. These movements are components that can assist in developing agility. Plyometric exercises include jumps, hops, skips, bounds and throws. Plyometric training is an intense form of exercise that helps athletes improves the power of their movements. Plyometric training is used to improve maximum strength and speed of movement which result in an increase of explosive power.

Agility is the ability to change direction or body position rapidly and proceed with another movement. Agility is the physical ability that enables a person rapidly to change body position and direction in a precise manner. Agility is generally defined as the ability to change direction quickly and effectively while moving as possible at full speed.