An evaluation of a new test of reactive agility and its relationship to sprint speed and change of direction speed

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the reliability and validity of a new test of agility, the reactive agility test (RAT), which included anticipation and decision-making components in response to the movements of a tester. Thirty-eight Australian football players took part in the study, categorized into either a higher performance group (HPG) (n=24) or lower performance group (LPG) (n=14) based on playing level from the previous season. All participants undertook testing of a 10m straight sprint (10mSS), a 8-9m change of direction speed test (CODST), and the RAT. Test-retest and inter-tester reliability testing measures were conducted with the LPG. The intra-class correlation (ICC) of the RAT was 0.870, with no significant (p<0.05) difference between the test results obtained on the first and second test sessions using a t-test. A dependent samples t-test revealed no significant (p<0.05) difference between the test results of two different testers with the same population. The HPG were significantly (p=0.001) superior to those of the LPG on the RAT, with no differences observed on any other variable. The RAT is an acceptably reliable test when considering both test-retest reliability, as well as inter-rater reliability. In addition, the test was valid in distinguishing between players of differing performance level in Australian football, while the 10mSS and CODST were not. This result suggests that traditional closed skill sprint and sprint with direction change tests may not adequately distinguish between players of different levels of competition in Australian football.

The reliability, validity and sensitivity of a novel soccer-specific reactive repeated-sprint test (RRST)

“…Agility is an important component for soccer and has been suggested to be a specific quality (Little and Williams 2005;Sheppard et al 2006). Several other tests have been developed (Balsom Agility Test, Balsom 1994;Illinois Agility Test, Getchell 1979;T-Test, Semenick 1990) that assess soccer players' agility and that make up a battery of fitness tests for soccer players.…”

Asymmetries in single and triple hop are not detrimental to change of direction speed

“…8,20 Imbalances between limbs has been stated to be a component of CODS. 21 Theoretically, being equally proficient in force production would be advantageous for the braking and propulsive requirements of change of direction speed (CODS), however it is inconclusive whether strength asymmetries negatively impact CODS. Previous studies have shown imbalances in unilateral vertical drop jump height and reactive strength, 7,8 and eccentric hamstring torque 9 were associated with slower CODS.…”

Agility training in football players: a systematic review

“…A diferencia de las tareas abiertas, encontramos las tareas cerradas. Las tareas cerradas son aquellas actividades que se pueden planificar de antemano, en estas tareas el futbolista sabe lo que tiene que hacer, por ejemplo, en un saque de esquina un jugador sabe de antemano que tiene que hacer un esprint desde la frontal del área hasta el corazón del área, y aquí hacer un cambio de dirección para ir al primer palo, con el objetivo de peinar el balón hacia atrás para el remate de otro compañero (Sheppard, Young, Doyle, Sheppard, & Newton, 2006).…”