INFLUENCE OF PLYOMETRIC TRAINING ON THE EXPLOSIVE POWER OF SENIOR RUGBY SEVENS PLAYERS

Rugby is a team sport in which physical contact with the opponent is direct. A fundamental feature of today’s rugby game indicates total physical involvement with the opponent, focusing on the contact struggle that takes place in both the individual and collective confrontation. Rugby sevens (7s) players engage in contact situations similar to rugby union and rugby league, such as tackling, rucking, carrying the ball into contact, mauling and scrummaging, which require strength and explosive power. Since plyometrics can significantly improve speed, strength and explosive power, this type of training can be recommended for rugby players. The present research was conducted on a group of 20 senior rugby players, professional athletes of the CS Politehnica Iași Women’s Rugby 7s team. The purpose of the research was to implement an eight-week programme (with two sessions per week) for the development of explosive power using the plyometric method. The tests consisted of the countermovement jump, free jump and squat jump, which were applied at the beginning of the training period for the championship return and at the end of the championship. The test results were entered into the SPSS (version 23) database, processed and analysed with the bilateral dependent t-test to compare the results. The study shows that plyometrics can be an effective training method to improve the explosive power of rugby sevens players. In conclusion, we can say that the explosive power of the lower limbs is an essential component that conditions sports performance in the game of rugby sevens.