The effects of specially adapted basketball training program in adolescents with mental retardation: A pilot study

Authors

Kocic Miodrag, Faculty of Sport and Physical Education, University of Niš

Abstract

During adolescence, daily physical activity is of essential importance for the improvement of health, proper growth and development, as well as the decrease in the risk factors for the onset of cardio-vascular and metabolic disorders later on in adulthood. For that reason it is necessary to create the preconditions for physical activity of adolescents with mental retardation so that they could have equal opportunities as their peers. The objective of this pilot study was to determine the differences in physical fitness and specific motor skills after eight weeks of a specially adapted basketball training program. Twelve adolescents (6 males and 6 females, mean age 15.1±1.5 yrs) with mental retardation participated in the study. Specially adapted basketball training program was conducted four times per week, during eight consecutive weeks. Each training session lasted approximately 30 minutes. Obtained results showed that the program improved specific motor skills. However, such training did not improve physical fitness in the adolescent subjects. Considering the small number of participants involved in the study, the obtained results can provide only limited information on the sources and magnitude of variation of response measures, but can facilitate the design of a full-scale experiment on this topic.

Keywords

Mental retardation, basketball, training, specific motor skills

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References

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