Changes in Vertical Jump Performance Following a Four-Week Agility-Ladder Program in Amateur Football Players

Abstract

Objectives: This study examined changes in lower-limb explosive performance after a four-week agility-ladder training program among Germa FC football players.

Materials and Methods: A one-group pretest-posttest design was used. Twenty players were purposively selected from a population of 25. Participants completed 12 supervised sessions over four weeks (three sessions per week). The 90-minute sessions included 45 minutes of ladder exercises comprising One-In Drill, Two-In Drill, Lateral Shuffle, In-In-Out-Out, Single-Leg Hops, and Icky Shuffle. Vertical jump height was measured before and after the program. Normality was assessed with the Shapiro-Wilk test, and scores were compared using a two-tailed paired-samples t-test at α = .05.

Results: Mean vertical jump height increased from 43.65 ± 4.44 cm to 58.98 ± 6.01 cm. The mean improvement was 15.33 cm (35.12%), 95% CI [12.88, 17.78]. The paired comparison was statistically significant, t(19) = 13.09, p < .001, with a very large standardized within-participant effect (Cohen’s dz = 2.92).

Conclusions: Vertical jump performance improved substantially during the four-week program. Because the intervention combined footwork and hopping exercises and the study lacked a control group, the improvement cannot be attributed exclusively to the agility ladder. Controlled trials should compare ladder-only, plyometric, combined, and regular-training conditions.