PENGARUH LATIHAN TARGET ZONA DRILL DAN SQUAT THRUST TERHADAP KETEPATAN SMASH ATLET PB GEMILANG MATARAM

Abstract

This study aimed to compare the effects of target zone drill and squat thrust training on badminton smash accuracy among PB Gemilang Mataram athletes. This revised version strengthens the methodological description, clarifies the intervention procedure, adds effect-size interpretation, and avoids overclaiming the superiority of one method because the between-group comparison was not statistically significant. The study employed a quantitative quasi-experimental method with a two-group pretest-posttest design. The population consisted of 50 PB Gemilang Mataram athletes, and the sample consisted of 12 male athletes aged 11-15 years selected using purposive sampling. Participants were allocated into two groups using a lottery procedure after the pretest, with six athletes in the target zone drill group and six athletes in the squat thrust group. The intervention was conducted for 18 sessions, with equal training duration, warm-up, core activity, and cooling-down structure in both groups. The instrument was a badminton smash accuracy test using predetermined target zones. Data were analyzed using the Shapiro-Wilk normality test, Levene’s homogeneity test, paired-sample t-test, and independent-sample t-test using SPSS 26 at a significance level of 0.05. The results showed that target zone drill significantly improved smash accuracy from 53.83 to 75.50 (t = 16.37; p < 0.001), while squat thrust also significantly improved smash accuracy from 48.50 to 66.83 (t = 10.62; p < 0.001). The gain-score comparison showed no significant difference between the two methods (t = 1.287; p = 0.181), with a small mean difference based on the SPSS output. These findings indicate that both methods are effective training alternatives for improving badminton smash accuracy; however, target zone drill can only be interpreted as descriptively higher, not statistically superior, in this sample.