European Journal of Physical Education and Sport Science ISSN: 2501 - 1235 ISSN-L: 2501 - 1235 Available on-line at: www.oapub.org/edu Volume 3 │Issue 12 │2017 doi: 10.5281/zenodo.1068225 THE EFFECTS OF 8 WEEKS CORE TRAINING ON DYNAMIC BALANCE OF ELITE LEVEL BADMINTON PLAYERS Oğuzhan Yüksel1, Sinan Akın*2i 1 Dumlupınar University, Department of Physical Education and Sport, Kutahya, Turkey 2 Süleyman Demirel University, Sports Sciences Faculty, Isparta, Turkey Abstract: Background: Core training is effective training for sports which require high level balance ability. Badminton needs good shaped balance ability for front side or back side on the court. Aim: Purpose of this study was to examine effects of core training on dynamic balance ability of high level Badminton players. Material and Methods: Experimental design, specifically randomized pretest- posttest control group, was used for this study. Matching participants was also applied for decreasing learning effect and pretest treatment interaction effect. Forty (22 male and 18 female) national Badminton players were recruited for this study. They were divided randomly two groups. Twenty of them were experimental group and other 20 of them were control group. Age of participants were 16-24 years (M= 18.98, SD= 1.92). Star excursion balance test was used in order to measure dynamic balance of participants. Mixed ANOVA was applied for statistical analysis. Result: Results showed that eight weeks core training increased dynamic balance ability of experimental group, not for control group participants. Conclusion: Core training has an effect on dynamic balance in high level badminton players and it should be used for improving balance ability of badminton players. Keywords: performance sport, balance test, training effect Copyright © The Author(s). All Rights Reserved. © 2015 – 2017 Open Access Publishing Group 95 Oğuzhan Yüksel, Sinan Akın THE EFFECTS OF 8 WEEKS CORE TRAINING ON DYNAMIC BALANCE OF ELITE LEVEL BADMINTON PLAYERS 1. Introduction Movements are highly related with center of gravity which allows changing body position (Akuthota & Nadler, 2004; Clark, Fater, & Reuteman, 2000). Center of gravity is surrounded by muscles that affect stability of body during activity in sports. These muscles are generally called as core muscles which maintain postural endurance and stability while body positions change suddenly. Core muscles include abdominals (rectus abdominus, internal and external oblique), hip (sartorius, gluteus maximus) and back (trapezius, latissimus dorsi) muscles (Handzel, 2003).They allow transferring actions from lower to upper or upper to lower extremities. Maintaining postural position during movement requires core stability which has been defined as muscular capacity and motor control of lumbopelvic-hip contraction (Norris, 2001). Core stability is divided three sub-systems; a) passive, b) active and c) neural systems. These systems work together in order to maintain stability of body. If one of them does not work, others will not be able to fulfill their tasks sufficiently (Panjabi, 1992). Core stability is a dynamic concept that continually changes to meet postural adjustments or external loads accepted by the body. From sport performance perspective, greater core stability provides a foundation for greater force production in the upper and lower extremities. Studies showed that core stability can be improved with well-designed core muscle strength training (Samson, & Sandrey, 2007; Tse, Mcmanus, & Masters, 2005). Core training is effective and useful training for increasing strength of muscles (King, 2000; Samson, & Sandrey, 2007). Studies examined effects of core training on elite and novice players (Sato & Mokha, 2009). For example, Tse and his colleagues (2005) studied on 45 college rowers and applied 8 weeks core training. Findings of this study showed that training improved core endurance of participants. Moreover, studies in literature indicated that core training was effective on preventing or rehabilitating sport injuries. Aluko, De Souza and Peacock (2013) investigated low back pain rehabilitation of 33 participants. Back pain of participants was decreased after core training treatment. Studies also focused on effects of core training on balance ability of athletes (Filipa, Byrnes, Paterno, Myer, & Hewett, 2010; Hardy, Huxel, Brucker, & Nesser, 2008; Stanton, Reaburn, & Humpries, 2004; Tse, et al., 2005). Filipa and her colleagues (2010) examined balance ability of female soccer players. Findings showed that core training was effective on balance ability. Even most of studies showed positive effects of core training on balance, some studies found opposite results. For example, Sato and Mokha (2009) who studied on rear-foot striking runners found no significant effects of core European Journal of Physical Education and Sport Science - Volume 3 │ Issue 12 │ 2017 96 Oğuzhan Yüksel, Sinan Akın THE EFFECTS OF 8 WEEKS CORE TRAINING ON DYNAMIC BALANCE OF ELITE LEVEL BADMINTON PLAYERS training. Furthermore, core training and balance were effective on players of individual sports especially racket sports players (Handzel, 2003). Badminton is the fastest racquet sport (427 km/s) and the speed of elite performance is getting faster and faster as techniques and athletes' physical conditioning keep improving (Ye & Chuan, 2009). Badminton at the elite level requires a combination of the aerobic and anaerobic systems and the involvement of these systems depends on the nature of the rally (short or long) and the duration of the game (short set or long match). Elite level badminton players need to have balance constantly while performing these rallies. Effects of core training on dynamic balance ability are not obvious in literature. Moreover, there are very few studies about core training and dynamic balance for badminton sport. The purpose of this study was to examine effects of core training on dynamic balance ability of elite level badminton players. It is hypothesized that there will be differences on pretest and posttest dynamic balance results of 8 weeks core training for experimental group, not for control group elite level badminton players. 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