The effect of different balance exercises on the development of selected kinesthetic perception skills in olympic archery

Objective: An elite archer provides hand-eye-whole body coordination while coordinating body movements during an arrow shot, is aware of the spatial position of objects and makes his shots more precise thanks to these skills. The aim of this study was to examine the effects of different balance exercises on the development of selected kinesthetic perception skills (hand-eye coordination, body space awareness, balance) in olympic archery. Method: Ninety participants aged 9-10 who did not engage in regular activity were randomly divided into three groups: Balance Training Group (BTG), Archery Group (AG) and Control Group (CG). The descriptive values of the participants were recorded. Kinesthetic perception test, Y test, balance test and mirror tracking test were applied to all participants as pre-test and post-test. In addition to archery training, a 12-week balance exercise program was applied to DAG, while only a 12-week archery training program was applied to OG. At the end of the 6th week, interim measurements were taken. The G*3.1 power analysis program was used to determine the sample size participating in the study. Data analysis was evaluated using the PASW W Statistics 18 program with a significance level of p<0.05. The normality distribution of the data was determined by the Shapiro Wilk test. In the pre-interim-post test comparisons within the group, "Repeated measures Anova" and "Friedman Test" were performed. In the comparison of tests between the groups, "One Way Anova" and "Kruskal Wallis-H" tests were applied. Results: In comparisons between groups; a statistically significant difference was found in favor of DAG in the 90° measurement of the kinesthetic perception test, balance test and mirror tracking test results (p < 0.05). Conclusion: Although archery was applied as a common training model for all participants, a significant increase in kinesthetic perception skills was detected in the group supported with balance exercises.