The impact of athletics basic education on students' motor skills and attitude toward athletics

Background and Study Aim. The aim of the study is to investigate the effects of basic athletics education on students' anthropometric measurements, motor skills and attitudes towards athletics. Material and Methods. 17 female and 17 male students from the faculty of sports sciences participated in the research, totally 34 students participated. Basic athletics education was given to the students for 14 weeks. Anthropometric measurements (body fat percentage, fat weight, muscle weight), motor skill tests (vertical jump, standing long jump, acceleration, sprint and change of direction) and Athletics Attitude Scale were applied as pre-test and post-test. Paired-Samples T-test and ANOVA test were used for in-group comparisons regarding the effect of education. Results. The analysis determined significant differences in the use of tools and fields. These differences were in favor of students who played team sports. In comparison, students who played individual sports or did not participate in any sports branch did not exhibit the same level of differences. When evaluated before and after the training, it was seen that there were significant differences in the sub-dimension of tool and field use in all students. When examining motoric and anthropometric values, several changes were observed in male students. These changes included positive shifts in fat percentage, fat weight, long jump, 10 m acceleration, 30 m sprint, and change of direction values. It was found that muscle weights and vertical jump performance values of female students changed significantly in a positive direction. Conclusions. As a result, it can be said that basic athletics training practices have a significant impact on students' attitudes towards athletics. This impact is particularly noticeable in the areas of tool and field utilization. Additionally, these training practices show positive effects, particularly for male students. These effects are observed in terms of improvements in motor skills and anthropometric measurements.