Development of a Specific Training Program to Improve Physical Fitness and Performance of Pickleball Athletes in Guangzhou Sports Polytechnic University

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Background and Aim: Although pickleball has rapidly gained popularity among Chinese university students, a significant issue remains the mismatch between current training methods and the sport's specific demands. At present, training still relies heavily on traditional approaches such as long-distance running or static strength exercises, which do not effectively target the development of agility, balance, reaction speed, and core strength that are essential for pickleball. As a result, despite students’ high levels of interest, their skill progression remains slow. The main objective of this research was to develop a specific training program to improve the physical fitness and pickleball performance of athletes at Guangzhou Sports Polytechnic University. Methodology: This research employed a mixed-method design to develop a specific training program to improve the physical fitness and pickleball performance of athletes. The population was 120 male pickleball athletes and 10 pickleball coaches on a pickleball team. The population was surveyed using questionnaires. The sample for the experiment was 30 athletes from the athletes’ population using the purposive sampling method. All athletes were divided into two groups: an experimental group of 15 participants and a control group of 15 participants, using a systematic method. The experiment would last for a total of 8 weeks, 3 days a week, 1.5 hours a day. Research instruments included an in-depth interview with experts (IOC=0.90), a focus group outline, and the connoisseurship outline. For data analysis, independent sample t-tests were conducted to examine the difference between the experimental and control groups, while repeated measures ANOVA was employed to compare within-group differences across testing phases. Qualitative data from interviews, focus groups, and connoisseurship were analyzed through content analysis. Results: 1) The experts confirmed that the training program is scientifically structured, practically feasible, and comprehensive, covering physical fitness, technical and tactical training, monitoring, recovery, and injury prevention. 2) The experimental group demonstrated highly significant superiority over the control group in all pickleball performance and physical fitness metrics post-intervention (p

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Related topics: Sports injuries and prevention · Mechanics and Biomechanics Studies · Sports and Physical Education Research