EFFECTS OF A TRAINING PROGRAM BASED ON LONGITUDINAL TRAINING OF ATHLETE DEVELOPMENT (LTAD) APPROACH ON GROSS MOTOR SKILLS AMONG 6-8 YEARS OLD CHILDREN

Abstract

The aim of this study was to examine effects of a training program based on longitudinal training of athlete development approach on gross motor skills among 6-8 years old children. Participants of Multi Branches Talent Identification and Development Project (n = 54), Basketball School players (n = 55) and a control group (n = 50) participated in the study. Multi Branches group attended to training sessions lasted 90 minutes, three days in a week for six months. Test of Gross Motor Development-2 test was used to assess development of locomotor and object control skills of the three groups before and after 6-months training period. Wilcoxon test indicated that post-test scores of Test of Gross Motor Development-2 were significantly higher than pre-test scores for all three groups (p<.001). Kruskal Wallis test results showed that there were statistically significant differences between three groups on the object control and total scores of Test of Gross Motor Development-2 (p<.001) but no differences on the locomotor scores of the test. The development percentage of Multi Branches group was higher than those of the other two groups. As a result, it can be concluded that the training program based on Long Term Athlete Development approach improved object control skills of 6-8 years old children.