Impact of mini volleyball training on cognitive skills of elementary students

Mini-volleyball can be understood as a slightly modified version of volleyball which makes learning the game easier. It aids in the cognitive, motor and playing skill development of students. Introducing mini-volleyball at the elementary level can greatly contribute towards students’ cognitive development. It can also serve as the pathway towards developing confidence to participate in physical activities and sports. 60 elementary students aged 9 to 12 have participated in the study. The experimental group 1 (n = 20) students underwent Integrated drill and game based mini volleyball training (IDGBMVT), experimental group 2 (n = 20) students underwent Drill based mini volleyball training (DBMVT) and Control group (n = 20) students didn’t get any kind of specific training. Physical Literacy Assessment for Youth (PLAY Coach-Sports for Life) was used to measure the cognitive skills. The confidence to participate in sport and physical activity, motivation to participate in sport and physical activity and comprehension of movement terms improved significantly in both experimental groups but not in the control group. After adjusting for pre-test scores, the groups significantly differed on confidence, F(2, 56) = 27.13, η2 = .49, motivation, F(2, 56) = 33.83, η2 = .55, and comprehension, F(2, 56) = 21.07, η2 = .43 (all p < .001). IDGBMVT showed higher improvement than both other groups on cognitive skills. These results suggest that combining modified drills with mini games helps students more than drills alone.