Investigation of the effect of foot training using the agility ladder on dribbling skills in football

The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of agility ladder using foot movements on the dribbling skill in football. 48 person aged between 8 and 15 were included in the study as a voluntary basis. A total of 4 groups were formed from the volunteers: control (n=12) and experimental groups (n=12) between the ages of 8-11, control (n=12) and experimental groups (n=12) between the ages of 12-15. The training program was applied to children studying in football schools during the year. Before the normal training programs, specially planned agility ladder exercises were performed for 8 weeks, twice a week, for the athletes in the experimental group. Only normal football training program were performed to the control group. The zigzag-dribbling test was applied before and after the 8-week training program to determine the dribbling speed and skills of the volunteers. The obtained data were analyzed using the SPSS 20 package program. Paired Samples T Test was used in the analysis of the pretest-posttest data applied to the groups, since it showed normal and homogeneous distribution. One Way ANOVA test was applied to the data sets showing normal and homogeneous distribution between the groups, and Tukey HSD test was used to determine the significance in which group. As a result of the analysis of the data obtained, there was no statistically significant difference between the pre-test and post-test results of the control groups, while a statistically significant difference was found between the pre-test and post-test results of the experimental groups. When the pre- and post-test results between the groups were compared, a statistically significant difference was found between the control group and the experimental group in favor of the experimental groups. As a result, it can be said that agility ladder training contributes to the development of dribbling skills of children in the lower age group.