PONE-D-24-43876The effects of plyometric training with speed and weight overloads on volleyball players' strength, power, and jumping performancePLOS ONE

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Reviewers' comments:

Reviewer's Responses to Questions

Comments to the Author

1. Is the manuscript technically sound, and do the data support the conclusions?

The manuscript must describe a technically sound piece of scientific research with data that supports the conclusions. Experiments must have been conducted rigorously, with appropriate controls, replication, and sample sizes. The conclusions must be drawn appropriately based on the data presented.

Reviewer #1: Partly

Reviewer #2: Yes

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2. Has the statistical analysis been performed appropriately and rigorously?

Reviewer #1: No

Reviewer #2: Yes

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3. Have the authors made all data underlying the findings in their manuscript fully available?

The PLOS Data policy requires authors to make all data underlying the findings described in their manuscript fully available without restriction, with rare exception (please refer to the Data Availability Statement in the manuscript PDF file). The data should be provided as part of the manuscript or its supporting information, or deposited to a public repository. For example, in addition to summary statistics, the data points behind means, medians and variance measures should be available. If there are restrictions on publicly sharing data—e.g. participant privacy or use of data from a third party—those must be specified.

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

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4. Is the manuscript presented in an intelligible fashion and written in standard English?

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Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

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5. Review Comments to the Author

Please use the space provided to explain your answers to the questions above. You may also include additional comments for the author, including concerns about dual publication, research ethics, or publication ethics. (Please upload your review as an attachment if it exceeds 20,000 characters)

Reviewer #1: Comments :

This study underscores the role of gradual overload in boosting sports performance, particularly through plyometric training with speed and weight variations. It finds that combining these overloads significantly enhances jump height, power, and isokinetic strength in volleyball players, with the PTSW group achieving the greatest improvements. This suggests that adding speed and weight overload to plyometric training is an effective strategy for athletic performance gains.

The study is generally well conducted, but there are still parts that, in my opinion, present serious ambiguity and need to be revised.

Here are some comments:

General comments:

*Please refer to the PLOS ONE standard for authors following the instructions and guidelines: abstract format, references styles in the text, references, etc.

*Please add sentence/paragraph numbering at the beginning of each sentence.

*Some references are old. Please use more recent references.

Specific comments:

*Please add a brief description of the installation of the subjects, as technique and position are crucial in the assessment, both at isokinetic and isometric modes.

*The absolute peak torque is becoming increasingly rare to use in isokinetic assessments; we instead use the PT reported to body weight for greater accuracy. The Biodex provides this measure in the isokinetic parameter table. Try adding this parameter and comparing your results.

The use of the t-test in this study seems to me to be the main problem. Indeed, a repeated measures ANOVA should be considered instead of the t-test. The interactions between groups and parameters are also interesting to analyse and observe.

*Results and Discussion are well written, but it remains to be seen whether the statistics are correct, as these two sections are totally dependent on them.

Reviewer #2: Page 10:

1. One of the other methods of using the speed variable is overspeed training (OST). This method has been used for years as a particular exercise for athletics. Which is given to the athlete at a speed higher than the maximum speed by using tilt, … (consider the grouping into one single sentence)

2. this method is also called assisted Training. (suggestion: use quotation marks and no caps).

Page 12:

(Including full descriptions… : no capital letter needed.

There are several observations of this type in the same paragraph.

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Reviewer #1: Yes: Nadhir Hammami

Reviewer #2: Yes: Diana Ciubotariu

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The effects of plyometric training with speed and weight overloads on volleyball players' strength, power, and jumping performance

PONE-D-24-43876R1

Dear Dr. hemmatinafar,

We’re pleased to inform you that your manuscript has been judged scientifically suitable for publication and will be formally accepted for publication once it meets all outstanding technical requirements.

Within one week, you’ll receive an e-mail detailing the required amendments. When these have been addressed, you’ll receive a formal acceptance letter and your manuscript will be scheduled for publication.

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Kind regards,

Julio Alejandro Henriques Castro da Costa

Academic Editor

PLOS ONE

Additional Editor Comments (optional):

Reviewers' comments:

Reviewer's Responses to Questions

Comments to the Author

1. If the authors have adequately addressed your comments raised in a previous round of review and you feel that this manuscript is now acceptable for publication, you may indicate that here to bypass the “Comments to the Author” section, enter your conflict of interest statement in the “Confidential to Editor” section, and submit your "Accept" recommendation.

Reviewer #1: All comments have been addressed

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2. Is the manuscript technically sound, and do the data support the conclusions?

The manuscript must describe a technically sound piece of scientific research with data that supports the conclusions. Experiments must have been conducted rigorously, with appropriate controls, replication, and sample sizes. The conclusions must be drawn appropriately based on the data presented.

Reviewer #1: Yes

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3. Has the statistical analysis been performed appropriately and rigorously?

Reviewer #1: Yes

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4. Have the authors made all data underlying the findings in their manuscript fully available?

The PLOS Data policy requires authors to make all data underlying the findings described in their manuscript fully available without restriction, with rare exception (please refer to the Data Availability Statement in the manuscript PDF file). The data should be provided as part of the manuscript or its supporting information, or deposited to a public repository. For example, in addition to summary statistics, the data points behind means, medians and variance measures should be available. If there are restrictions on publicly sharing data—e.g. participant privacy or use of data from a third party—those must be specified.

Reviewer #1: Yes

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5. Is the manuscript presented in an intelligible fashion and written in standard English?

PLOS ONE does not copyedit accepted manuscripts, so the language in submitted articles must be clear, correct, and unambiguous. Any typographical or grammatical errors should be corrected at revision, so please note any specific errors here.

Reviewer #1: (No Response)

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6. Review Comments to the Author

Please use the space provided to explain your answers to the questions above. You may also include additional comments for the author, including concerns about dual publication, research ethics, or publication ethics. (Please upload your review as an attachment if it exceeds 20,000 characters)

Reviewer #1: All comments are taken into account by the authors. I appreciate the work made, especially when statistical analysis was totally reworked. Good luck.

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7. PLOS authors have the option to publish the peer review history of their article (what does this mean?). If published, this will include your full peer review and any attached files.

If you choose “no”, your identity will remain anonymous but your review may still be made public.

Do you want your identity to be public for this peer review? For information about this choice, including consent withdrawal, please see our Privacy Policy.

Reviewer #1: Yes: Nadhir Hammami

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