{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,8]],"date-time":"2026-07-08T05:17:18Z","timestamp":1783487838887,"version":"3.55.0"},"reference-count":38,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,8]],"date-time":"2026-07-08T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1783468800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Physiol."],"abstract":"<jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Background<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Basketball requires repeated jumping, short-distance acceleration, rapid deceleration, and frequent changes of direction, yet it remains unclear whether French contrast training (FCT) produces greater adaptations than equal-load traditional training (ELT) in female collegiate basketball players. This study examined the effects of a 10-week FCT program on lower-limb power, short-distance acceleration, change-of-direction performance, and one-repetition maximum (1RM) back squat performance.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>In this randomized controlled trial, twenty-five female collegiate basketball players were randomly allocated to an FCT group (n = 13) or an ELT group (n = 12). Jump, sprint, change-of-direction, and 1RM back squat outcomes were assessed before and after training and analyzed using two-way repeated-measures ANOVA.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      Significant group \u00d7 time interactions favored FCT for squat jump, countermovement jump, drop-jump height, reactive strength index (all p &amp;lt; 0.001), and eccentric utilization ratio (p = 0.003). Significant group \u00d7 time interactions were also observed for 10-m sprint time, 10-m maximal velocity, 10-m maximal acceleration, lane agility, and basketball-specific change-of-direction performance (all p &amp;lt; 0.001).\n                      <jats:italic>Post hoc<\/jats:italic>\n                      analyses showed significant pre-to-post improvements in the FCT group for all jump-related, sprint, and change-of-direction outcomes (p = 0.035 for eccentric utilization ratio; all other p &amp;lt; 0.001). The ELT group also improved in these outcomes, although the magnitude of improvement was generally smaller. For 1RM back squat, there was a significant main effect of time (p &amp;lt; 0.001), with significant improvements in both groups (both p &amp;lt; 0.001), whereas the group \u00d7 time interaction was not significant (p = 0.106).\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Conclusions<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>FCT may provide greater benefits than ELT for improving explosive and basketball-specific rapid movement outcomes in female collegiate basketball players. These findings may help strength and conditioning coaches select FCT when the goal is to improve explosive and rapid multidirectional movement performance rather than maximal strength alone.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fphys.2026.1885685","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,8]],"date-time":"2026-07-08T04:49:54Z","timestamp":1783486194000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Effects of 10-week French contrast training on lower-limb power, short-distance acceleration, and change-of-direction performance in female collegiate basketball players"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"17","author":[{"given":"Limingfei","family":"Zhou","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Strength and Conditioning Training, Beijing Sport University","place":["Beijing, China"]},{"name":"Key Laboratory for Performance Training and Recovery of General Administration of Sport of China","place":["Beijing, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Siqi","family":"Meng","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Strength and Conditioning Training, Beijing Sport University","place":["Beijing, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Zhenxiang","family":"Guo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Sports Coaching College, Beijing Sport University","place":["Beijing, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Muxi","family":"Zhang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"National Sports Training Center, General Administration of Sport of China","place":["Beijing, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,8]]},"reference":[{"key":"B1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"111","DOI":"10.1186\/s13102-026-01576-1","article-title":"The effects of French contrast method on explosive power and speed-related skills in female soccer players: a randomized controlled trial","volume":"18","author":"Aslan","year":"2026","journal-title":"BMC Sports Sci. 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