THE EFFECTS OF 8 WEEKS OF BALANCE TRAINING ON SOCCER SKILL LEVEL APPLIED TO 10-12 AGE GROUP MALE SOCCER PLAYERS

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of 8 weeks of balance training applied to 10-12 age group male soccer players on soccer skill levels. This study involved 41 licensed Soccer players from two U-12 football teams competing in the same championship who trained regularly for at least one year. Footballers were randomly divided into two groups as experimental group (EG; N=20) and control group (CG; N=21). In addition to the usual soccer training, EG practiced balance training 3 times a week for 8 weeks and for 20 minutes, while the CG continued their routine soccer training. Before and after the study, EG and CG were given the football-specific technical skills test Loughborough Pass (LSPT), Loughborough Shooting (LSST) and Y Balance Test (YBT). At the end of the 8-week study, there was a decrease in trial periods in both groups. At the end of LSPT, there was a significant decrease in the EG penalty period compared to CG (-2.10 s), and as a result of (LSST), there was no significant difference between the groups while improvement was observed in both groups at the end of 8 weeks. As consequence the football player’s (YBT) who were in the EG (p=.011) improved, while the CG did not change. As a result of the measurements, it can be said that the balance training added to the traditional training of young age group football players can improve some technical football skills more than the usual football training alone. For the development to be sustainable, it is thought that it would be appropriate to include the balance training program in the training routines and should regularly upgrade the program.

Keywords: Football, balance, technical skills.

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