Effects of Band Exercises Added to the Warm-Up on Shooting and Viscoelastic Properties of Muscles in Handball Players

Effects of Elastic Band Exercises Added to the Warm-Up Program on Shooting Performance and Viscoelastic Properties of Upper Extremity Muscles in Youth Female Handball Players

Today's handball has become a fast and fluid handball that expects superior performance from athletes. The aim of handball is to put the ball into the opponent's goal, so one of the most important parameters of sports performance is shooting performance.

Studies show that warm-up programs have a positive effect on sports performance. Warm-up programs are used to prevent possible injuries and to increase sports performance by increasing temperature and flexibility in muscle and connective tissue. Warm-up programs may also cause changes in muscle viscoelastic properties and thus affect performance.

Recently, new approaches have begun to be used in warm-up programs. Some of these are warm-ups with a resistance tire, a medicine ball, and a weight vest. When the literature was examined, the effects of the warm-up program with resistance bands on adolescent handball players were generally examined in the lower extremity, but no study was found examining the effects on the upper extremity. For this reason, the study was designed to examine the effect of elastic band exercises applied to the upper extremity in addition to the traditional warm-up program on shooting performance in adolescent female handball players and the change in the viscoelastic properties of the upper extremity muscle groups.

30 female handball players with an age range of 12-18 years will participate in the research. Athletes will be divided into two equal groups as control and experimental groups in a controlled, randomized manner. The control group will be given a traditional warm-up program 6 days a week for 6 weeks. The experimental group will be given a traditional warm-up program under the same training conditions and additional elastic band exercises. In order to examine the effects of the warm-up programs to be applied in the chronic period, goal shooting, Modified Push Up test, Medicine Ball Throwing test, Upper Extremity Y Balance Test will be performed before training and at the 6th week and muscle viscoelastic properties will be evaluated. At the same time, in order to examine the acute effects, the goal shooting and muscle viscoelastic properties will be evaluated after the first warm-up training.The investigators hope that our study will help coaches and physiotherapists working in this field during the training process by ensuring the active use of a warm-up program with elastic bands in handball players.

Inclusion Criteria:

• 12-18 years old
• Female Gender
• Participating in active training at least 3-4 times a week
• Athletes who volunteer to participate in the study
• Having a license in handball

Exclusion Criteria:

• People with orthopedic, neurological or congenital problems
• Athletes with chronic illnesses
• People with upper extremity surgery history within the last year
• People with cognitive problems
• People with problems that will prevent the application of tests
• Having had a sports injury that would affect upper extremity shooting performance within the last six months