The purpose of this master's thesis was to examine the effects of a six-week curved sprint training program with additional load (weighted vest) on sprint performance and explosive power in young female football players. The study involved 18 players from the elite Slovenian women's youth and senior league, who were randomly assigned to either an experimental group (with added load) or a control group (without load). The training sessions were conducted once a week, with a progressive increase in sprint volume over the weeks. Measurements were performed before and after the training intervention and included a 30-meter linear sprint, curved sprints to the left and right and vertical jumps (countermovement jump, single-leg countermovement jump, squat jump and drop jump). These were used to determine changes in sprint speed (both linear and curved) and jump height across different types of vertical jumps. Analysis of covariance revealed that the weighted sprint training protocol (experimental group) resulted in significantly greater improvements in maximal speed during curved sprinting to the right and left (under loaded conditions), as well as in squat jump height, compared to the non-weighted sprint protocol (control group). Using paired t-tests, we found that control group experienced a statistically significant decrease in squat jump height (-8 %) and countermovement jump height (-8 %) and a statistically significant increase in maximal speed during the curved sprint to the right (+4 %). On the other hand, although the experimental group showed a statistically significant decrease in drop jump height (-6 %), they also achieved a statistically significant increase in maximal speed during the curved sprint to the right (+5 %) and curved sprint to the left with added load (+3 %). Correlation analysis revealed moderate to strong relationships between changes in sprint performance and jump height in both the control and experimental groups. As expected, the control group had fewer statistically significant correlations compared to the experimental group. Specifically, there were statistically significant correlations between the increase in maximal speed during the curved sprint to the right and improvements in squat jump height (r = 0,859; p < 0,01), countermovement jump height (r = 0,780; p < 0,05), and countermovement jump height performed with the left (r = 0,756; p < 0,05) and right leg (r = 0,893; p < 0,01). Additionally, there were statistically significant correlations between acceleration in the linear sprint and drop jump height (r = 0,857; p < 0,01), as well as between acceleration in the curved sprint to the left and countermovement jump height with additional load (r = 0,814; p < 0,05). The findings suggest that curved sprint training with a weighted vest may have a positive effect on certain aspects of speed and explosive power in young female football players. However, further research is needed to draw broader conclusions.
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