Abstract
The purpose of this study was to determine whether an eight-week functional training program could enhance adolescent athletes' Fundamental Movement Skills (FMS). There were 40 participants aged 13-16 years, randomly allocated to experimental group (n = 20) and control group (n = 20) where the participants received functional training and regular training in school respectively. Functional Movement Screen (FMS) was tested at the beginning and the end of the intervention to assess the movement competency, mobility, stability, and coordination.
The results obtained showed that the experimental group recorded significant improvement in total FMS scores, in comparison to the control group. Comparison between pre- and post-tests depicted that there was an increase of mean 4.60 points in the experimental group and massively significant p-value (p < 0.001). Conversely, the control group had low and statistically non-important improvement. The seven elements of FMS improved dramatically in the experimental group with improvement in deep squat, hurdle step, inline lunge, shoulder mobility, active straight-leg raise, trunk stability, and rotary stability. The experimental group was found to be superior in post-test group comparisons, which also proved the superiority of functional training. The size of the effect was high (Cohen d= 2.3), which means it has a strong practical importance.
As a conclusion of the research, it can be stated that functional training is a very effective approach to enhance basic movement skills among the adolescent athletes. It improves quality of movement, neuromuscular control and athletic preparedness on the whole. The findings backing these include incorporation of functional training in youth sports programs and curriculum of physical education. Suggestions of future research and practice recommendations are also provided.