Development of Multiball Feeding Training Program to Improve Selected Physical Fitness and Skills in Novice Badminton Students

Background and Aims: This study aimed to address the limitations of traditional badminton training methods in effectively enhancing both physical fitness and skill development in novice players. Many beginners struggle with footwork, reaction time, endurance, and stroke accuracy due to insufficient training intensity and limited shuttle repetition. To address these issues, this research developed a multiball feeding training program to enhance selected physical fitness components and badminton skills in novice badminton students. Materials and Methods: A quasi-experimental research design with a two-group pretest-posttest approach was employed. The sample consisted of 46 students from Hangzhou Senior High School in Hangzhou City, who were systematically assigned into two groups based on their Wall Volley Test scores. The experimental group underwent an eight-week multiball feeding training program developed by the researcher, with a validity score of 0.97 (range: 0.80-1.00). Training sessions were conducted after school, twice a week, for two hours per session. The control group followed a traditional badminton training program. Research instruments included the multiball feeding training program, selected physical fitness tests (zig-zag run, hand release push-up, standing long jump, reaction time, and 1500-meter run), and badminton skill assessments (footwork test, wall volley test, short serve test, clear test, smash test, and accuracy stroke test). Data were collected before and after the experiment and analyzed using an independent t-test for between-group comparisons and a paired t-test for within-group comparisons, with a significance level of p<.05. Results: The findings indicated that (1) Both the multiball training and traditional training groups demonstrated improvements in physical fitness and badminton skills; (2) Participants in the multiball training program showed significantly greater improvements in all five physical fitness components and five out of six badminton skill assessments compared to the traditional training group, except the short serve test, where no significant difference was observed. Conclusion: The multiball feeding training program was more effective in enhancing both physical fitness and badminton skills compared to the traditional training approach. Future research should explore its long-term effects and applicability in different training populations.