The Effect of 12 Weeks of Regular Rope Jumping Exercises on Speed and Agility

This study was conducted to examine the effects of 12 weeks of regular rope jumping exercises on speed and agility. A total of 73 participants, including aged between 10 and 11, who participated in regular basketball training, were included in the study and also parental consents were obtained. Participants were instructed to perform rope jumping exercises before the study; those who lacked rope jumping skills (n=4) were not included. The participants were randomly assigned to either a training group or a control group before the intervention. At the start and at the end of the study, all participants underwent tests for standing long jump, speed, balance, and agility. Training group engaged in rope jumping exercises and the control group solely participated in basketball training sessions. The data obtained were analyzed using SPSS 20.0 software. The Mann-Whitney U test was employed to determine differences between groups, while the Wilcoxon test was applied to identify differences between the pre-test and post-test results within the dependent groups. The findings indicated statistically significant differences in the training group regarding standing long jump, speed, balance, and agility when comparing pre-test and post-test data (p<0.05), whereas no statistically significant differences were found in the control group (p>0.05). Consequently, it was established that the 12 weeks of regular rope jumping exercises improved standing long jump, speed, static balance, and agility. Therefore, it is recommended that rope jumping exercises, which have been shown to contribute to the development of certain motor skills in this age group, be incorporated into training routines.