Background and Study Aim. The COVID-19 pandemic has caused many athletes to interrupt their regular training programme. The change-of-direction performance is a highly critical parameter for fencing. This study aims to investigate the effects of the detraining process caused by the COVID-19 pandemic on the change-of-direction performance of fencers. Material and Methods. The study sample comprised 15 fencers (11 males, 4 females) who were competitors in the U17-20 age categories (mean age: 15.75±1.51 years; height: 170.30±7.68 cm; weight: 65.16±10.83 kg) in Turkey. All participants were high school students. Branch-specific change-of-direction tests (4-2-2-4-m shuttle and 7-m repeat lunge ability) were measured in the middle of the competition season and after the detraining period. The detraining period lasted 31 weeks due to the pandemic process. Results. The results showed that participants were slower in the post 7-m repeat lunge ability test (23.32±2.21 sec.) compared with the pre-test (22.38±1.58 sec.) and participants were slower in the post 4-2-2-4-m shuttle test (6.43±0.54 sec.) compared with the pre-test (5.84±0.33 sec.) (p<0.05). Conclusions. The present study showed that long-term detraining reduces fencer’s change-of-direction performance. Basic exercise programs can be arranged to reduce the rate of adverse effects during long-term detraining process.
Background and Study Aim. Plyometric training is one of the most preferred methods for athletic performance improvement. This study was designed to measure the effect of 8 weeks of additional plyometric training on jump performance, lower extremity asymmetry, speed, and agility performances of adolescent fencers. Material and Methods. This study was carried out with 26 fencers who participated in national competitions. The fencers were randomly divided into plyometric training (PLY, n = 14) and the control (n = 12) group. The PLY group did plyometric training 3 days per week for 8 weeks in addition to their fencing training. The control group only continued their fencing training. All participants performed countermovement jumps (CMJ), pro-agility, 0-5-m, 5-15–m, 0-15-m sprints, and asymmetry tests before and after 8 weeks. Results. Statistically significant differences were found in CMJ, (p = 0.001), pro-agility (p = 0.001), and 0-5-m (p = 0.036), 5-15-m (p = 0.018), and 0-15-m (p = 0.001) sprint results in the PLY group. However, asymmetry contact time and asymmetry flight time values did not show statistical differences. In addition, group x time interactions of CMJ (p < 0.001), pro-agility (p = 0.001), and 0-5-m (p = 0.015) and 5-15-m (p = 0.009) sprint tests were also found statistically significant. Conclusions. Thus, it can be said that plyometric training contributes positively to the jumping, agility, and speed of fencers. Adolescent fencers and their trainers may be advised to focus on additional plyometric training programs. However, individual differences and training experience should also be taken into account in the determination of plyometric programs.
In trampoline gymnastics, elements with low difficulty values are given more place in the first routines in accordance with the international competition rules. In the second routines, because the difficulty value of all the elements performed earn points for the gymnast, elements with high difficulty values are preferred. This difference may affect other score types in the routines. Accordingly, the aim of this study was to compare the time of flight and horizontal displacement scores in first and second routines. The results of the 2019-2020 Trampoline Gymnastics Turkish Championship constituted the data of the study. In both competitions, both the entire group and the female and male groups were evaluated. Except for the 2019 male horizontal displacement scores, the time of flight and horizontal displacement scores of all groups were found to be statistically significantly lower in the second routines compared with the first routines (p<0.05). According to these results, the trampoline gymnasts preferred more complex and difficult elements to obtain high difficulty scores in the second routines in accordance with the international rules, which may have caused them to achieve lower time of flight and horizontal displacement scores compared with the first routines. Trainers and gymnasts should aim to increase the difficulty score without decreasing the total score while choosing elements for second routines. To find this difficulty level, trainings and trial competitions can be performed with routines with different difficulty scores.
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