
The purpose of the present study was to investigate the efficacy of game specific training in combination with plyometric training performed in different surface conditions on speed among young volleyball players. To achieve the purpose of the study, forty-five male volleyball players aged between 15 and 18 years were selected as subjects and randomly divided into three equal groups of fifteen each. Group-I underwent combined game specific training with plyometric training on sand surface, Group-II underwent combined game specific training with plyometric training on firm surface, and Group-III served as the control group. The training programme was conducted for a period of twelve weeks. Speed was selected as the dependent variable. The collected data were statistically analyzed using paired ‘t’ test, Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA), and Scheffe’s post hoc test. The results revealed significant improvement in speed among the experimental groups when compared to the control group. The obtained paired ‘t’ ratio values for combined sand surface plyometric and game specific training group and combined firm surface plyometric and game specific training group were 9.20 and 8.40 respectively, which were greater than the required table value of 2.15 at 0.05 level of significance. The percentage of improvement in speed was 18.18% for the combined sand surface plyometric and game specific training group and 9.21% for the combined firm surface plyometric and game specific training group. The ANCOVA analysis revealed a significant adjusted post-test ‘F’ ratio value of 43.16, which was higher than the required table value of 3.23 at 0.05 level of confidence. Further, Scheffe’s post hoc test confirmed significant mean differences among the groups. The findings of the study indicated that both sand surface and firm surface plyometric training combined with game specific training significantly improved speed performance among volleyball players. However, combined sand surface plyometric and game specific training was found to be superior to combined firm surface plyometric and game specific training in improving speed.
