The subjects of this study were 8-year-old sweet cherry trees of the cultivar 'Kordia' grafted on the 'Colt' rootstock. The trees had been trained as spindles for four years after planting. In the fifth year, four systems of pruning were introduced: 1) the spindle form - i.e. the pruning system remained unchanged, 2) Zahn's method of pruning, 3) one-year-old shoots were cut back leaving approximately 10 buds, 4) no pruning at all - control trees. An assessment of the effects of these training systems was carried out in the third and fourth year of the study. The best results were obtained with the trees formed in the shape of a spindle and the trees pruned according to Zahn's recommendations. Cutting back long one-year-old shoots caused a significant decrease in the total yield and a small increase in the average fruit weight. The smallest values of canopy volume were obtained in the combination where long shoots had been shortened, while the largest canopies were found in the control combination. Canopy volumes of the trees shaped as spindles and of those pruned using Zahn's method were similar.