The effect of neurodevelopmental yoga on balance, reaction time, flexibility and performance anxiety among young basketball players

This study was conducted to determine whether Neurodevelopmental Yoga has an effect on balance, hand reaction time, hamstring flexibility and sportive performance anxiety in young basketball players. The study was carried out at Darüşşafaka Sports Club between April 2022 and August 2022 and volunteered for 42 ( 42E ; 18.59±2.4 years; 200±8.11 cm. ; 94.2 ±8.3 kg) basketball players. Basketball players who fulfilled the inclusion criteria and volunteered to participate in the study were randomly assigned to two groups, the intervention group (n=21) and the control group (n=21). Y balance test was used to evaluate the balance of basketball players , Nelson Hand Reaction Test was used to evaluate hand reaction time. Hamstring flexibility was tested with Passive Straight Leg Raise (PSLR). Sports Injury Anxiety Questionnaire was used to evaluate sports injury anxiety .In the analysis of non-normally distributed (nonparametric) dependent variables, the Mann-Whitney U Test was used to evaluate between two groups. The variation of repeated measurements was examined with the Wilcoxon Test. Cases where the P-value was below 0.05 were considered as statistically significant. While presenting the independent variables, the average of the values was used.As a result, Neurodevelopmental Yoga was applied twice a week , 60-minutes per session for 6 weeks.When the Neurodevelopmental Yoga, intervention, group and the control group were compared, a statistically noteworthy increase was seen in the dynamic balance values(Y Balance total score , Y Balance anterior, Y Balance posterolateral and Passive Straight Leg Raise (PSLR) Measurement of the left side. There was no statistically remarkable difference was found between the athletes in these two groups, when the hand reaction times of the two groups mentioned in the study.In addition to this results , it was determined that there was a significant reduction in sports injury anxiety in athletes participating in neurodevelopmental yoga sessions compared to the control group. Keywords: Basketball, Neurodevelopmental Yoga, Flexibility, Balance , Stress Management