Effects of 8-weeks Circuit Training Programme on Physiological and Performance Characteristics of University Racket Game Players

The attainment and sustenance of excellent performance in any sporting engagementvia the adoptions of specific training method alone may be in doubt without specialemphasizes on general fitness training methods. This study was carried out to examinethe responses exhibited by University of Ibadan racket game athletes concerning theirphysiological and performance characteristics following an 8-week circuit trainingprogramme. Multistage sampling technique was used to select 32 participants. The subjects wererandomly selected (male and female) from four strata that made-up racket games in theUniversity. These are: Badminton, Table tennis, Tennis and Squash. The subjectsunderwent training twice a week, for eight consecutive weeks. A single group quasiexperimentaldesign, otherwise known as repeated measure design was used for thestudy. Data collected were analyzed using descriptive statistics of mean, range andstandard deviation for interpretations of research questions, while inferential statisticsof paired t-test was adopted to confirm the significance of the stated hypotheses at the0.05 level of significance. The results show that there was significant difference in the pretest-posttest responsesof physiological variables measured (Resting diastolic and systolic blood pressureRDBP & RSBP, resting heart rate RHR and Body Mass Index BMI). The differencesrecorded for the performance characteristics of speed and agility was not significant.However, measurements of cardiorespiratory endurance, general muscular endurance,arm muscular strength and flexibility showed statistically significant differences. Itwas recommended that racket games coaches and players should adopt regimentalfield training programme and engage in strenuous physical training to achieve betterbody compositions suitable for competitive engagement in their various sports.