## 4 Discussion  
The aim of this study was to examine changes in the anaerobic measures of young male basketball players (aged 16-18) following a unique sprint-training intervention using sled pushing, sled pulling, or no sled (body weight only). The anaerobic performance measures that were assessed prior to and following the intervention program included vertical and horizontal jumps, agility, and speed (5 and 20 m sprints). Improvements were seen in the horizontal jump among the sled-pushing team, yet not as hypothesized; no other significant improvements were seen in any other measures or group. However, the sled-training groups exhibited improvements in all measures. It is important to note that the degree of resistance provided by sleds can be determined in various ways, with the most common method being a percentage of the athlete's body weight [41; 45]. Additionally, sled training can be performed with a range of loads, providing light, moderate, or heavy resistance. Given these factors, the inconsistency be \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c c c} \hline \hline
**Group** & \multicolumn{2}{c}{**Control**} & \multicolumn{2}{c}{**Pull**} & \multicolumn{2}{c}{**Push**} \\  & \multicolumn{2}{c}{\(n=8\)} & \multicolumn{2}{c}{\(n=9\)} & \multicolumn{2}{c}{\(n=8\)} \\ \hline Performance measure & Pre & Post & Pre & Post & Pre & Post \\ \hline \begin{tabular}{c} \hline \hline \begin{tabular}{c} \hline \end{tabular} & \(1.09\pm 0.1\) & \(1.14\pm 0.09\) & \(1.05\pm 0.09\) & \(1.05\pm 0.11\) & \(1.04\pm 0.04\) & \(1.05\pm 0.04\) \\ \hline \begin{tabular}{c} \hline \hline \begin{tabular}{c} \hline \hline \end{tabular} & \(3.15\pm 0.19\) & \(3.18\pm 0.13\) & \(3.06\pm 0.12\) & \(3.04\pm 0.19\) & \(3.06\pm 0.08\) & \(3.03\pm 0.07\) \\ \hline \begin{tabular}{c} \hline \hline \begin{tabular}{c} \hline \hline \begin{tabular}{c} \hline \end{tabular} \\ \hline \begin{tabular}{c} \hline \hline \end{tabular} & \(2.24\pm 0.16\) & \(2.33\pm 0.12\) & \(2.45\pm 0.17\) & \(2.52\pm 0.19\) & \(2.46\pm 0.19\) & \(2.54\pm 0.21\)\({}^{*}\) \\ \hline \begin{tabular}{c} \hline \hline \begin{tabular}{c} \hline \hline \begin{tabular}{c} \hline \hline \end{tabular} \\ \hline \
\begin{tabular}{c} \hline \hline \end{tabular} & \(35.3\pm 4.22\) & \(35.5\pm 3.19\) & \(39\pm 6.47\) & \(40.93\pm 6.18\) & \(36.91\pm 5.51\) & \(37.58\pm 4.31\) \\ \hline
\begin{tabular}{c} \hline \hline \end{tabular} & \(10.27\pm 0.2\) & \(10.16\pm 0.19\) & \(9.92\pm 0.39\) & \(9.74\pm 0.51\) & \(9.92\pm 0.42\) & \(9.91\pm 0.25\) \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular} \({}^{*}\)\(p<0.05\).  
\end{table} 
Table 4: Comparison of results before and after the intervention by group (M \(\pm\) SD). Figure 1: Improvements (%) in all tests by group (M \(\pm\) SD). tween studies is not surprising. In a study on physical education students, improvements in short-distance running speeds were observed after sled-pulling training with a load equivalent to 20% of the athlete's body weight, compared to a load equivalent to 5% or 12.5% in a similar sample that showed significant improvements in vertical jump heights following sled-pulling training, with a moderate 40% load compared to regular sprint training without additional resistance [45]. In the current study, the participants were young male athletes, aged 16-18. Unlike adult populations, adolescents exhibit differences in skeletal development, sexual maturity, muscle mass, and overall body weight [1; 15]. As such, sled training loads that are based on the athlete's body weight could lead to significant relative-load discrepancies between the study's diverse participants. For instance, a 40% body weight may constitute a moderate resistance load for one athlete, yet a relatively light load for another younger athlete--potentially leading to varied responses to the sled training [36].