Investigation of the Effects of Intensive One- Sided and Double-Sided Training Drills on the Postures of Basketball Playing Children

[Purpose] This study aimed to investigate the effects of upper extremity-oriented intensive onesided and double-sided dribbling on the postures of basketball playing children during the period of their basic training. [Subjects] Forty male children registered for a summer basketball training course held in Isparta, Turkey, voluntarily participated in the study. [Methods] The children were formed into two equal groups: a single dribbling group, and a double dribbling group. Both groups were subject to daily training for 1.5 hours during a period of 10 weeks. Anterior and lateral posture were analysed before and after the training period. Symmetrical differences were studied in the anterior analysis, while angular ones were examined in the lateral one. [Results] Before the training period, no significant differences were found between the two groups in either the anterior or lateral posture tests (p>0.05). Following the training, however, a significant difference with regard to shoulder and chest regions was observed between the groups in the anterior analysis (p<0.05). On the other hand, there was no significant difference in the posttraining lateral test results (p>0.05). [Conclusion] Intensive one-sided dribbling training was thus observed to be effective in the asymmetrical formation of the dominant one-sided shoulder and chest regions of basketball playing children. In accordance with these data, rather than one-sided dribbling exercises, double-sided dribbling ones are recommended, because this can be said to be more beneficial for the