Published Paper Details:

The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of plyometric training and circuit training on agility among Kho-Kho players. A total of 60 male Kho-Kho players aged between 16-24 years, who had represented intercollegiate tournaments in Kadapa district, were randomly assigned into three groups: Experimental Group I (plyometric training, n=20), Experimental Group II (circuit training, n=20), and Control Group (n=20). Agility was assessed using standardized agility tests at pre- and post-intervention stages. The training programs for the experimental groups were conducted for 12 weeks, three sessions per week. Data were analyzed using ANCOVA to assess significant differences among groups, with the level of significance fixed at 0.05. The results revealed that the pre-test means for agility were 37.00 (plyometric), 36.23 (circuit), and 36.87 (control), with no significant difference (F=0.17, p>0.05). The post-test means improved to 40.50 (plyometric), 40.01 (circuit), and 37.01 (control), with significant differences among the groups (F=4.89, p<0.05). Adjusted post-test means were 40.32 (plyometric), 40.30 (circuit), and 36.91 (control), yielding a highly significant F value of 10.82 (p<0.05). Post hoc analysis indicated that both plyometric training and circuit training groups showed significantly greater improvement in agility compared to the control group (MD=3.41 and 3.39, respectively), while no significant difference was observed between plyometric and circuit training groups (MD=0.02). The findings confirm that both plyometric training and circuit training are effective in improving agility among Kho-Kho players. However, neither method proved superior to the other, suggesting that coaches can incorporate either training modality into conditioning programs to enhance agility performance in this sport.