Investigation of the effect of core exercises on athletic performance in basketball players

Introduction and Objective: In basketball competitions, athletes compete against various opponents one after the other in one day. During the competitions, athletes need to have a high level of fitness in order to gain superiority over their opponents. The application and evaluation of athletic performance tests is an important requirement for high athletic efficiency. It is also important for athletes who reach high performance levels to maintain their current status and to protect them from injuries. In this context, the aim of this study was to investigate the effect of 8-week core exercises on static balance core strength anaerobic power speed and agility in basketball players. Materials and Methods: This study was conducted using a "non-equivalent control group" design, which is one of the quasi-experimental designs. In this design, as in true experimental designs, there is a pre-test, post-test, and control group. However, group assignment is not random in this design. In the present study, the experimental and control groups were not randomly assigned either. The sample group consisted of a total of 20 trained male basketball players, divided into experimental and control groups. The participants had a mean age of 16.30±0.47 years, a mean height of 183.05±4.44 cm, and a mean body weight of 73.20±8.91 kg. Additionally, the average body mass index (BMI) was 21.80±2.04 kg/m². All basketball players were subjected to balance tests, CMJ (Counter Movement Jump), SJ (Squat Jump), 20m Sprint (20MS), and T Agility Test (T-TEST) before and after the study. Results: It was observed that there was no difference between the experimental and control groups in terms of height, BMI, age and weight. It was observed that the experimental procedure had an effect on balance, ttest, CMJ, SJ and 20MS in the experimental group(p<0.05). In the control group, there was no statistically significant difference between pre-test and post-test in terms of these variables(p>0.05). Conclusion: As a result of the research, since it was observed that the experimental procedure had an effect on the examined variables of the individuals in the experimental group, it can be recommended to use core training to affect the balance, ttest, CMJ, SJ and 20MS variables of professional basketball players.