Effects of 8-weeks Circuit Training Programme on Physiological and Performance Characteristics of University Racket Game Players

The attainment and sustenance of excellent performance in any sporting engagement via the adoptions of specific training method alone may be in doubt without special emphasizes on general fitness training methods. This study was carried out to examine the responses exhibited by University of Ibadan racket game athletes concerning their physiological and performance characteristics following an 8-week circuit training programme. Multistage sampling technique was used to select 32 participants. The subjects were randomly selected (male and female) from four strata that made-up racket games in the University. These are: Badminton, Table tennis, Tennis and Squash. The subjects underwent training twice a week, for eight consecutive weeks. A single group quasiexperimental design, otherwise known as repeated measure design was used for the study. Data collected were analyzed using descriptive statistics of mean, range and standard deviation for interpretations of research questions, while inferential statistics of paired t-test was adopted to confirm the significance of the stated hypotheses at the 0.05 level of significance. The results show that there was significant difference in the pretest-posttest responses of physiological variables measured (Resting diastolic and systolic blood pressure RDBP & RSBP, resting heart rate RHR and Body Mass Index BMI). The differences recorded for the performance characteristics of speed and agility was not significant. However, measurements of cardiorespiratory endurance, general muscular endurance, arm muscular strength and flexibility showed statistically significant differences. It was recommended that racket games coaches and players should adopt regimental field training programme and engage in strenuous physical training to achieve better body compositions suitable for competitive engagement in their various sports.