The Effect of Theraband Exercises on Motor Performance and Swimming Degree of Young Swimmers

Abstract

Different training methods are used to improve children's swimming degrees and motor performance. There are a limitednumber of studies examining the effects of therabands, which are portable and available everywhere, on swimmers. The aim ofthis study was to investigate the effect of 8 weeks of theraband exercises on motor performance and 50 m freestyle swimmingdegree. 45 voluntary children (male = 27, female = 18) participated in the study. The children were divided into three groups;control group (CG), swimming group (SG) and theraband group (TG), each consisting of 15 people. SG did swimming trainingonly three times a week for eight weeks. In addition to swimming exercises, TG did theraband exercises consisting of 8movements to the lower and upper extremities. The motor performances of the swimmers were determined by the Dordel KochTest (DKT), which consists of 7 subtests, and swimming degrees were determined by the stopwatch. Wilcoxon Signed RanksTest was used to determine the difference between pre-tests and post-tests following 8-weeks of exercise. According to theresults, it was determined that in SG, 50 m swimming degree and DKTsideward jump performances increased in the posttest,while in TG, 50 m swimming degree, DKTsideward jump, DKTflexibility, DKT standing long jump, DKTsit-up, DKTbalanceand DKTpush-up performances improved significantly in the post-test (p