Reliability of sports related functional tests with emphasis on speed and agility in young athletes

Scand J Med Sci Sports. 2001 Aug;11(4):229-32. doi: 10.1034/j.1600-0838.2001.110406.x.

Abstract

The aim of the present investigation was to test the reliability of two sports related functional tests, a speed test (slalom-test) and an agility test (hurdle-test). Eleven athletes aged 11 years (8 boys, 3 girls) participated voluntarily in the study. All subjects completed four different test sessions for both the slalom-test and the hurdle-test using six standard track hurdles placed at 2-m intervals along a 12-m length of track. There were no significant differences between testing sessions for either the slalom-test (P=0.99) or the hurdle-test (P=0.96), showing no systematic variation between test times. The intraclass correlation coefficients were 0.96 and 0.90 respectively, indicating a good reliability. We conclude that the slalom-test and the hurdle-test are reliable sports related functional tests for measuring speed and agility in groups of young athletic individuals.

Publication types

  • Clinical Trial

MeSH terms

  • Child
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Motor Skills*
  • Physical Fitness / physiology
  • Reproducibility of Results
  • Sports / physiology*
  • Sports Medicine / instrumentation*
  • Task Performance and Analysis*