IMPACT OF THE VIRTUAL TRAINING PROGRAM ON IMPROVING THE RUNNING TIME OF RUNNER ATHLETES

Abstract

This research aims to identify the impact of the virtual training program on improving the running time of the runner athletes in short-, middle-, and long-distance races and the differences in the improvement levels of the running time of the runner athletes concerning gender variables. During the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown, students could not participate in the training programs. To overcome this dilemma, we have implemented virtual training programs this time. However, the main question remains whether or not this type of learning yields significant results. We hypothesize that the virtual training program improves the achievement of the players' times in the short-, middle-, and long-distance races. We also studied this effect according to the gender of the players, and for that, we designed a controlled experimental study. For that, we chose a sample of 41 male and female players as a research sample; furthermore, the study adopts a training program for runners in the short, middle, and long races. The main results showed that virtual training improved the players' running time by an average of 3.93%. The rate of improvement among short-distance runners was 6.8%, middle-distance runners 4.43%, and long-distance runners 0.55%. Although there were no statistically significant differences between the improvement rates between males and females due to the gender variable, males showed an improvement of 2.39% compared to 1.91% for females. The virtual training program helped improve the operating time of the players without differences due to gender, and it will bring success to distance learning programs in the case of any future pandemics. Keywords : Virtual Training Program, Running Time, Athletes, Short-, Middle-, and Long-Distance Races DOI： https://doi.org/10.35741/issn.0258-2724.58.2.46