Utilisation of primary healthcare services by Sjögren's syndrome patients in the Community of Madrid and associated factors: a population-based cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND

Agility and change-of-direction (COD) are essential for success in soccer, influencing performance and injury risk. Resisted sprint training (RST) has shown promise in enhancing these skills by improving muscle strength and neuromuscular coordination. However, the effects of vertical and horizontal RST on agility and COD performance remain inadequately explored.

METHODOLOGY: A systematic literature search was conducted across PubMed, Web of Science, and Google Scholar without date restrictions, following PRISMA guidelines. Studies were included if they involved healthy soccer players, RST interventions, and assessed agility or COD speed. Data extraction and quality assessment were executed independently by two reviewers; statistical analyses employed RevMan and Stata software packages.

RESULTS

This meta-analysis included 13 studies, which collectively generated 35 groups based on experiment and control protocols. The demonstrated a statistically significant improvement of RST on agility and COD performance (SMD = -0.31, 95% CI [-0.44 to -0.17], p < 0.001). Subgroup analyses revealed a trend towards greater improvements with vertically resisted sprinting (SMD = -0.36, p = 0.009), compared to horizontally resisted sprinting (SMD = -0.13, p = 0.25) although the difference was not statistically significant (p = 0.07). Elite athletes demonstrated significant enhancements in agility and COD (SMD = -0.45, p < 0.001). In contrast, amateur athletes displayed no significant improvements (SMD = -0.05, p = 0.77). RST outperformed unresisted sprinting (SMD = -0.29, p < 0.05) and alternative training (SMD = -0.36, p < 0.001), indicating its effectiveness across various comparators.

CONCLUSIONS

RST significantly enhances agility and change-of-direction performance in soccer players, particularly among elite athletes. Vertical resisted sprinting is more effective than horizontal resistance, supporting its integration into training programs for improved athletic performance.PROSPERO registration number (CRD42024608859).