Improving Agility and Reactive Agility in Basketball Players U14 and U16 by Implementing Fitlight Technology in the Sports Training Process

Abstract

The main aim of this research was to evaluate the impact of the implementation of Fitlight technology in the process of sports training and motor assessment on the improvement in agility and reactive agility of junior basketball players. The age groups studied were under-14 (U14) and under-16 (U16). This study included 70 male basketball athletes, structured in two experimental groups: U14 (18 subjects) and U16 (17 subjects); two control groups: U14 (18 subjects) and U16 (17 subjects). Arithmetic averages of the anthropometric characteristics of the subject groups: experimental group U14: height 172.89 cm, weight 58.22 kg, BMI 19.56; control group U14: height 165.44 cm, weight 50.17 kg, BMI 18.53; experimental group U16: height 179.94 cm, weight 70.82 kg, BMI 20.35; control group U16: height 183.88 cm, weight 73.41 kg, BMI 20.83. An 18-week experimental program that integrates Fitlight technology in order to develop coordination and agility skills and corrective agility was implemented in the experimental groups. This study included six tests: T agility test, T agility test with ball, reactive T agility test, reactive T agility test with ball, Illinois agility test, and Illinois agility test with ball. The results of this study showed statistically significant progress between the initial and final testing for the experimental group, p < 0.05. The Cohen’s values of the experimental groups were above 0.8, which denotes a large effect size; for the control group, these sizes were small and medium. The comparative analysis of the experimental and control groups, U14 and U16, highlights significant statistical differences in favor of the experimental groups, for all the agility tests of this study. This study highlights the effectiveness of incorporating advanced training tools like Fitlight in sports training, particularly for young basketball players. This approach surpasses traditional methods in enhancing agility, suggesting a paradigm shift towards technology-integrated training in sports.