An agility test to measure performance in Para ice hockey Test presentation and test-retest reliability

Laboratory and on ice tests to evaluate kinematics of Para ice hockey players

“…A previous study on ice hockey players demonstrated that turning on the right was easier for right-handed shooters and vice versa. 7 When the kinematics of all four curves was considered, trunk angle showed a difference between the left curves and right curves; 23 however, discarding the first curve, trunk angle did not show statistical differences between the two sides. This finding would suggest that in the coronal plane, participants may bend the trunk towards the left or the right differently for the first curve (when starting from standstill), but when they are already moving, the difference between left and right trunk bending was negligible.…”

“…For the agility test, the total execution time was measured from the first curve (when the blades were almost parallel to the disc cones row) to the instant in which the front of the sledge aligned with the last cone (on the opposite disc cones row). For the fastest repetition, the first curve was discarded as previously recommended, 23 while the execution time for the second, third, and fourth left curves was calculated and averaged. Execution time for each left curve was calculated from the instant in which the blade ends were aligned with the cone (with blades almost orthogonal to the disc cones row) to the instant in which the blade ends were in the same position, but at the other side of the same cone.…”

“…The agility test was designed together with the coach and showed good results for reliability. 23 Two different acquisitions were done in order to collect a total of four curves performed to the left (Figure 3(a)) and four curves performed to the right (Figure 3(b)). Each acquisition was repeated three times with 30 s of active recovery in between.…”