Effects of a Short-term Training Program on the Technical Performance of Shuttlecock Athletes Aged 10-11

Abstract

Shuttlecock has become a popular sport in Vietnam, turning into a strength of the country. It is a sport with diverse techniques and is challenging to practice. To train shuttlecock athletes, coaches need to give the technical training appropriately from the early stage of the training process. The current study evaluated the effectiveness of a short-term skill training program on the technical abilities of young shuttlecock athletes. Seventeen adolescent shuttlecock athletes (10 to 11 years) playing for two shuttlecock teams in Ho Chi Minh City were divided into the experimental group (n=9) and the control group (n=8). The training program included five sessions per week (60 minutes of practicing technical skills each), and it was conducted for three months. Sixteen exercises were chosen to develop the experimental group’s technical skills, such as serving, spiking, passing, and slamming for the experimental group. The study also developed a skill-testing battery that was reliable and valid to assess the technical abilities of the participants. The results showed that the experimental group’s technical performance (W=19.47%) was much better than those of the control group (W=12.85%). In conclusion, the short-term training program effectively enhanced the technical performance of the young shuttlecock athletes.