Comparative effects of unilateral and bilateral plyometric training on physical fitness in adolescent team-sport athletes: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

2026-04-27
Frontiers in physiology 17
- Fengming Zhang
- Yang Liu
- Shijie Shi
- Hanpeng Wang
- Jiale Liu
- Oleksandr Yeremenko

PubMed: 42125197
DOI: 10.3389/fphys.2026.1820331

Study Design

Type: Systematic Review
Sample size: n = 388
Population: adolescent team-sport athletes (388 participants from 11 studies)
Methods: Systematic search in PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, and Embase; random-effects meta-analysis calculating SMD (Hedges' g) from pre- and post-training changes

Objective

This study aimed to compare the relative effects of unilateral and bilateral plyometric training on jump, sprint, and change-of-direction performance in adolescent team-sport athletes.

Methods

A systematic search was conducted in PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, and Embase databases. Effect sizes were calculated from pre- and post-training changes and pooled using a random-effects model, expressed as SMD (Hedges' g) and its 95% CI.

Results

A total of 11 studies involving 388 participants were included. Between-group comparisons showed no significant differences for countermovement jump (CMJ) (SMD = -0.06, 95% CI -0.32 to 0.20, I² = 0%, p = 0.649), standing long jump (SLJ) (SMD = -0.20, 95% CI -0.55 to 0.15, I² = 0%, p = 0.268), ≤10 m sprint (SMD = -0.22, 95% CI -0.53 to 0.09, I² = 0%, p = 0.164), ≥20 m sprint (SMD = -0.06, 95% CI -0.31 to 0.20, I² = 0%, p = 0.669), or change-of-direction (COD) (SMD = -0.01, 95% CI -0.33 to 0.31, I² = 27.9%, p = 0.946). Unilateral plyometric training showed greater improvements in single-leg tasks, including single-leg CMJ (SMD = 0.34, 95% CI 0.07 to 0.61, I² = 0%, p = 0.013) and single-leg COD (SMD = -0.61, 95% CI -1.01 to -0.21, I² = 0%, p = 0.003).

Conclusion

This study found no clear between-group advantage between unilateral and bilateral plyometric training for bilateral jump performance (CMJ and SLJ), sprint performance (≤10 m and ≥20 m), or COD. However, unilateral plyometric training appeared to provide greater benefits in single-leg tasks, particularly single-leg CMJ and single-leg COD, suggesting a possible task-specific advantage.

Systematic review registration

https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/, identifier PROSPERO CRD420261324213.