EFFECT OF HIGH AND LOW FLEXIBILITY ON AGILITY, ACCELERATION SPEED AND VERTICAL JUMP PERFORMANCE OF VOLLEYBALL PLAYERS

This study aimed to assess the effect of high and low levels of flexibility on key performance indicators of volleyball performance. Eighty-four volleyball players (n=84; mean±SD; decimal age: 16.57±1.51; height (cm): 176.23±8.77; body mass (kg): 66.14±11.79) were selected for the study. The design of the study was cross-sectional and to measure selected variables i.e. agility, lower body muscular power, and acceleration speed; 6×10 m shuttle run, countermovement jump (with arm swing) test and 20 m sprint test (standing start) were used. To measure the flexibility level of the players, sit and reach test was used. Shapiro-Wilk normality test was conducted to check the distribution of data and the Levine test was applied to check homogeneity of the variance in data. Participants were divided into two groups i.e. High Flexibility Group (HFG) and Low Flexibility Group (LFG) using k-means cluster analysis and independent t-test was applied to find the differences between HFG and LFG. The level of significance was set at p < 0.05. Results showed statistically significant difference between HFG and LFG in agility, acceleration speed and lower body muscular power and, based on the results, it was concluded coaches should include flexibility training in the regular training programme. The results obtained supported the rationale that baseline flexibility may influence the performance of volleyball players. Article visualizations: