Improving Basketball Skills Through Coordination Exercises in Pair for Middle School Students

Abstract

This paper aims to present effective methods for teaching exercises during physical education and sports lessons by performing exercises in pairs. The presence of a partner and/or opponent not only adds a competitive element but also simulates adaptation to unpredictable changes, thus creating conditions similar to those encountered in a real basketball game and providing more realistic feedback on the applicability of technical procedures in basketball. Materials and Methods: The subjects included in the study were represented by two fifth-grade classes (one experimental class and one control class) from “Ion Agârbiceanu” Secondary School in Cluj-Napoca. Initial tests were applied to both groups involved in the research, then the experimental group was subjected to a variety of pair exercises, followed by the same tests being applied to both groups again at the end. Results: The results obtained from the two tests applied to both groups in the research show a more visible progress in the experimental group, especially in the second test, where a very large difference can be seen. In the experimental group, 18 out of 20 students improved their shooting percentage, while in the control group, only 5 achieved this. Conclusions: Based on the results obtained, we can confidently state that applying pair-specific basketball exercises improved the execution of procedures and technical elements.