The effect of core exercise program on vertical jump, speed, agility and strength parameters in junior male soccer players

This study was conducted to investigate the effect of core exercise program on vertical jump, speed, agility and strength parameters in junior male soccer players. In the study, pretest-posttest control group design, one of the experimental models of quantitative research method, was used. The experimental group of the study consisted of 12 male soccer players (X̄year: 12,16±,83) who underwent core exercise 3 days a week for six weeks in addition to regular soccer training, while the control group of the study consisted of 12 male athletes (X̄year: 12,25±,62) who underwent only regular soccer training. Leg strength, core strength, vertical jump, 30 m sprint and agility tests were administered to the athletes who voluntarily participated in the study before and after six weeks of training. The normality level of the data was determined by Shapiro-Wilk test. Independent Sample T Test for independent groups and Paired Sample T Test for dependent groups were used to analyze the normally distributed data. According to the findings of the study, there was a statistically significant difference between the pre-test - post-test measurement values of all performance tests of the experimental group and core strength, vertical jump, 30 m sprint and agility tests of the experimental and control groups (p<0.05), while no significant difference was found in the control group (p>0.05). According to the results of the study, it can be said that the core exercise program applied to male football players has positive effects on the development of vertical jump, speed, agility and strength parameters.