The effect of strength training on upper extremities strength and ball throwing velocity in blind goalball athletes

Throwing technique in goalball game is the main attack to score a goal. The study aims to determine the effect of strength training on upper extremity strength and ball throwing velocity in blind goalball athletes. This study was used experimental study. Twenty goalball athletes aged 22.15±1.39 years, height 155.75±4.90 cm, and weight 56.67±5.96 kg participated in this study to evaluate the applied training, undergoing treatment for 8 weeks. Participants underwent upper extremities strength and ball throwing velocity testing before and after treatment. Parametric paired t test was used for data analysis with a significance of 0.05. Paired t-test showed tcount = 17.178 (p-value = 0.000) for TW_5s, tcount = 37.338 (p-value = 0.000) for TW_15s, and tcount = 9.303 (p-value = 0.000) for BTV, which showed an increase in upper extremities strength and ball throwing velocity after blind goalball athletes underwent strength training for 8 weeks. Strength training can be a choice for coaches as an optimal training strategy to increase upper extremity strength and ball throwing velocity in blind goalball athletes.