The impact of part-whole passing training on passing accuracy in volleyball athletes aged 10–14 years

Background and study aim. Passing is one of the fundamental techniques for improving accuracy in young volleyball players. However, training methods that combine part and whole approaches are still understudied in the scientific literature. This study aimed to examine the effect of passing training using a combination of partial and full methods on passing accuracy in volleyball athletes aged 10–14 years, with respect to gender differences. Materials and methods. This quasi-experimental study employed a pretest–posttest design. The sample was selected using total sampling and included all volleyball athletes aged 10–14 years in Sleman Regency, Indonesia, with a total of 60 athletes. The characteristics (mean±SD) of 30 male athletes were: age 11.9±1.0 years, height 150.1±6.7 cm, weight 44.4±4.9 kg. For 30 female athletes, the characteristics were: age 11.7±0.9 years, height 149.9±7.2 cm, weight 42.5±5.4 kg. Participants were randomly distributed into three groups: passing training with the part and whole method (Group 1), passing training without this method (Group 2), and a control group (Group 3). The intervention lasted 6 weeks (18 sessions). The Brady Volleyball Test was used to measure accuracy in both pretest and posttest. Results. Paired t-test analysis revealed that passing training improved accuracy in all groups and in both genders (p<0.05). Independent t-test results showed that Group 1 had no significant gender differences in accuracy (p=0.524>0.05). In contrast, Groups 2 and 3 displayed substantial differences. One-Way ANOVA results (p=0.000<0.05), followed by LSD Post Hoc tests, confirmed that Group 1 achieved the highest passing accuracy. Group 2 ranked second, followed by the control group (Group 3). Conclusions. The part and whole training method significantly enhances passing accuracy in volleyball athletes aged 10–14 years. Moreover, gender differences did not influence the outcomes when this method was applied. These findings have important implications for designing effective and inclusive volleyball training programs, particularly for young athletes in the foundational stages of skill development.