Short reportReactive agility of rugby league players
Introduction
Given the importance of agility to rugby league players,1 several investigators have assessed this quality using a wide range of performance tests (e.g. ‘L’ run and 505 test).2, 3 However, a limitation of these tests is that they are all simple change of direction speed tests that rely on pre-planned movements. Although most practitioners would classify agility as any movement involving rapid change(s) of direction, agility has recently been defined as a rapid change of direction in response to a sport-specific stimulus.4 While the majority of agility research has been devoted to pre-planned change of direction speed tests, investigators have recently begun to study the perceptual components of agility.5, 6 In this respect, the ability of team sport athletes to ‘read and react’ to a game-specific stimulus has been tested. Sheppard et al.5 demonstrated that a test of reactive agility was able to successfully discriminate higher and lesser skilled Australian football players, where pre-planned change of direction speed tests did not. Farrow et al.6 reported similar results for netball players. Given the important contribution reactive agility tests have made to other team sports, it is likely that a test of reactive agility could significantly advance the understanding of agility in rugby league.
While investigators have studied speed and change of direction speed in rugby league players, no study has investigated the reactive agility of these athletes. With this in mind, the purpose of this study was to investigate the reactive agility of rugby league players, to determine if this quality discriminated higher and lesser skilled players.
Section snippets
Methods
Twenty-four elite (mean ± S.D. age, 24.5 ± 4.2 years) and 42 sub-elite (23.6 ± 5.3 years) rugby league players participated in this study. Elite players were members of a National Rugby League club while sub-elite players were registered with a recreational rugby league club.
The reactive agility test has been described in detail elsewhere.5 The player began on a marked line with timing gates placed 5 m to the left and right and 2 m forward of the start line.
The investigator stood opposite, and facing,
Results
Significant differences (p < 0.05) were detected between elite and sub-elite players for response accuracy, decision and movement times on the reactive agility test (Table 1).
Discussion
The purpose of this study was to investigate the reactive agility of rugby league players, to determine if this quality discriminated higher and lesser skilled players. The results of this study demonstrate that decision and movement times on the reactive agility test were faster in higher skilled players, without compromising response accuracy. The finding of superior anticipatory skill in the elite players of the present study suggests that these players had a greater ability to extract
References (6)
- et al.
An evaluation of a new test of reactive agility, and its relationship to sprint speed and change of direction speed
J Sci Med Sport
(2006) - et al.
The development of a test of reactive agility for netball: a new methodology
J Sci Med Sport
(2005) - et al.
Time and motion analysis of professional rugby league: a case study
Strength Cond Coach
(1993)
Cited by (73)
The test-retest reliability and criterion validity of a high-intensity, netball-specific circuit test: The Net-Test
2018, Journal of Science and Medicine in SportCitation Excerpt :Performance times for each component commenced when there was a break in foot contact with the designated marker for that component.20 Timing was completed for each component upon the initial foot contact with the marker signaling the following test component.20 The intra-rater reliability for this approach was acceptable across all outcome measures via re-analysis of ten randomly selected test video files by the same researcher at least 4 weeks apart to avoid data retention21 (ICC = 0.99–1.00; CV = 0.1–1.6%).
The influence of selected anthropometric parameters on psychomotor abilities among professional Rugby Union players
2023, BMC Sports Science, Medicine and RehabilitationEFFECT OF PERIODIZED INTERVAL TRAINING IN COMBINATION WITH EXPLOSIVE STRENGTH AND SPEED IN GAME-LIKE SITUATION ON AGILITY AND HIGH INTENSITY AEROBIC CAPACITY OF YOUTH SOCCER PLAYERS
2023, Physical Education Theory and MethodologyEffects of physical training on change of direction performance: A systematic review with meta-analysis
2023, International Journal of Sports Science and CoachingSport-specific differences in key performance factors among handball, basketball and table tennis players
2023, International Journal of Computer Science in Sport