Reliability Study of a Functional Test for the Offensive Agility Performance in Water Polo

Abstract

The aim of the study was to develop and assess the reliability of a functional agility test containing offensive elements for water polo players. Eighteen young male (15.3 ± 0.5 years, 178.3 ± 4.7 cm, 69.4 ± 10.0 kg) water polo players with a minimum of 5 years of sport-specific experience participated in this study. The test contained reactive high-intensity short-term swimming with changes in direction and manoeuvres after perceiving unknown stimuli given by tester players, and also included a shooting task at a goal, first from 7 m and then from 5 m. Execution time and shooting efficiency were measured by two experienced water polo coaches (Evaluators A and B). All statistical analyses were calculated using SPSS. The intrarater reliability between attempts showed good reliability for both evaluators (Evaluator A: ICC: 0.87; 95% CI: 0.66–0.95 and Evaluator B: ICC: 0.88; 95% CI: 0.68–0.96). Interrater reliability between Evaluators A and B was excellent at both attempts (Attempt 1: ICC: 0.97; 95% CI: 0.93–0.99 and Attempt 2: ICC: 0.98; 95% CI: 0.91–0.99). A lack of correlation between shooting performance from 7 m and 5 m distances and execution time was observed in the protocol. The test we presented in this study was found to be a reliable measurement tool for testing offensive agility performance based on open skill nature among water polo players.