Changes in futsal dribbling-test performance after a 16-session ball-feeling program in high-school players: a single-group pre–post study

Abstract

Ball-manipulation and close-control drills (often called “ball feeling” in Indonesian coaching practice) are used in school futsal, but intervention studies often lack control groups and test-specific reliability evidence. To describe changes in slalom-dribbling time after a 16-session program and audit the consistency of repeated trials. In a single-group pre–post study, all 15 players of one senior-high-school futsal team in Padangsidimpuan, Indonesia (age 16.5 ± 0.6 years) completed 16 supervised sessions. Dribbling was assessed with an eight-pole out-and-back slalom test using a handheld stopwatch; the faster of two trials was the primary score. Analyses included a paired t test, 95% confidence interval (CI), Cohen’s dz, exact Wilcoxon signed-rank test, scoring-rule sensitivity analyses and trial-to-trial intraclass correlation (ICC). Mean time decreased from 22.75 ± 2.22 s to 13.60 ± 1.10 s (mean difference 9.16 s, 95% CI [7.66, 10.66]; t (14) = 13.10, p < .001; dz = 3.38, 95% CI [2.04, 4.71]); all 15 players were faster. Pre-test trial agreement was high (ICC = .99), but post-test agreement was poor (ICC = .15; maximum difference 6.02 s). Two pairs of players had identical post-test trial records, and pre- and post-test times were weakly negatively correlated (r = -.24). Recorded dribbling times were lower after the program, but the poor post-test agreement and absence of a control group prevent attributing the magnitude of change to the program. Original records and test conditions must be verified before the findings are interpreted as an intervention effect.