The effect of core exercises on athletic performance and soccer technical skills of 14-16 years old soccer players

The aim of the study is to examine the effects of core exercises applied to football players aged 14-16 on athletic performance and football technical skills. A total of 40 football players, 20 in the experimental group and 20 in the control group, randomly selected and consisting of 14-16 age group football players playing in the infrastructure of Osmaniyespor Football Club operating in Osmaniye, participated in the study voluntarily. In the study, while the control group football players continued their routine training, the experimental group football players were applied a core exercise program 3 times a week for 8 weeks. In the study, a jump measurement mat was used to measure vertical jump, an Illinois agility test to measure agility, a photocell with 0.01 second precision to measure 10-meter and 20-meter speed, a dynamometer to measure back and leg strength, and the Mor-Christian test to measure football-specific technical skills. . SPSS 26 package program was used to analyze the data. Demographic characteristics of the variables were determined. The Shapiro-Wilk Test was used to check whether the data had a normal distribution and it was determined that the data showed a normal distribution. Paired T Test was used for intragroup comparisons, and Independent Samples T Test was used for intergroup comparisons. The significance level of the study was accepted as p<0.05. In the intra-group comparison of control group football players, it was determined that there was a significant difference in anaerobic power, 20 meter speed, flexibility and dribbling parameters, and the difference was in favor of the post-test. In the intra-group comparison of the experimental group football players, it was determined that there was a significant difference in all parameters and the difference was in favor of the post-test. As a result, it is thought that there were changing parameters in the control group football players who performed routine football training at the end of 8 weeks and that football training had an effect on this situation. It is thought that the improvement in the parameters of the experimental group football players is due to the fact that core exercises applied 3 times a week in addition to routine football training significantly improved the athletic performance and technical skills of young football players.