Comparison of agility demands of small-sided games in elite Australian football
- Authors: Davies, Michael , Young, Warren , Farrow, Damian , Bahnert, Andrew
- Date: 2013
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: International Journal of Sports Physiology and Performance Vol. 8, no. 2 (2013), p. 139-147
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- Description: Purpose: To compare the agility demands of 4 small-sided games (SSGs) and evaluate the variability in demands for elite Australian Football (AF). Methods: Fourteen male elite Australian Football League (AFL) players (mean ± SD; 21.7 ± 3.1 y, 189.6 ± 9.0 cm, 88.7 ± 10.0 kg, 39.4 ± 57.1 games) completed 4 SSGs of 3 x 45-s bouts each with modified designs. Video notational analysis, GPS at 5 Hz, and triaxial accelerometer data expressed the external player loads within games. Three comparisons were made using a paired t test (P < .05), and magnitudes of differences were reported with effect size (ES) statistics. Results: Reduced area per player (increased density) produced a small increase in total agility maneuvers (SSG1, 7.2 ± 1.3; SSG2, 8.8 ± 4.1), while a large 2D player load was accumulated (P < .05, ES = 1.22). A reduction in players produced a moderate (ES = 0.60) total number of agility maneuvers (SSG 3, 11.3 ± 6.1; SSG 2, 8.3 ± 3.6); however, a greater variability was found. The implementation of a 2-handed-tag rule resulted in a somewhat trivial decline (P > .05, ES = 0.16) in agility events compared with normal AFL tackling rules (SSG 2, 8.3 ± 3.6; SSG 4, 7.8 ± 2.6). Conclusions: SSG characteristics can influence agility-training demand, which can vary considerably for individuals. Coaches should carefully consider SSG design to maximize the potential to develop agility for all players. © 2013 Human Kinetics, Inc.
- Description: 2003010585
The importance of a sport-specific stimulus for training agility
- Authors: Young, Warren , Farrow, Damian
- Date: 2013
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Strength and Conditioning Journal Vol. 35, no. 2 (2013), p. 39-43
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- Description: The purpose of this article is to review recent evidence to help guide the training of agility. agility skill usually involves reacting to a stimulus before performing a movement with a change of direction or velocity. research has shown that better performers can be distinguished from lower skilled athletes by the ability to quickly and accurately react to opponent's movements, but not to a generic stimulus such as a flashing light. therefore, training for agility should include a perceptual and decision-making component involving reacting to movements of others, and this may be accomplished with evasive drills or smallsided games. Copyright © National Strength and Conditioning Association.
- Description: 2003011107
Validity and reliability of agility tests in junior Australian football players
- Authors: Young, Warren , Farrow, Damian , Pyne, David , McGregor, William , Handke, Tara
- Date: 2011
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research Vol. 25, no. 12 (2011), p. 3399-3403
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- Description: The importance of sport-specific stimuli in reactive agility tests (RATs) compared to other agility tests is not known. The purpose of this research was to determine the validity and reliability of agility tests. Fifty junior Australian football players aged 15-17 years, members of either an elite junior squad (n = 35) or a secondary school team (n = 15), were assessed on a new RAT that involved a change of direction sprint in response to the movements of an attacking player projected in life size on a screen. These players also underwent the planned Australian Football League agility test, and a subgroup (n = 13) underwent a test requiring a change of direction in response to a left or right arrow stimulus. The elite players were significantly better than the school group players on the RAT (2.81 ± 0.08 seconds, 3.07 ± 0.12 seconds; difference 8.5%) but not in the arrow stimulus test or planned agility test. The data were log transformed and the reliability of the new RAT estimated using typical error (TE) expressed as a coefficient of variation. The TE for the RAT was 2.7% (2.0-4.3, 90% confidence interval) or 0.07 seconds (0.5-1.0), with an intra class correlation coefficient (ICC) of 0.33. For the test using the arrow stimulus, the TE was 3.4% (2.4-6.2), 0.09 (0.06-0.15) seconds, and ICC was 0.10. The sport-specific stimulus provided by the new RAT is a crucial component of an agility test; however, adoption of the new RAT for routine testing is likely to require more accessible equipment and several familiarization trials to improve its reliability. © 2011 National Strength and Conditioning Association.
Variability of the agility training stimulus in small-sided games in elite Australian Rules Football
- Authors: Young, Warren , Davies, Michael , Farrow, Damian , Bahnert, Andrew
- Date: 2011
- Type: Text , Conference paper
- Relation: 2011 ASCA International Conference on Applied Strength and Conditioning p. 128-130
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Development of a tennis-specific fatigue-inducing protocol and the effects of caffeine on performance
- Authors: Hornery, Daniel , Farrow, Damian , Mujika, Inigo , Young, Warren
- Date: 2008
- Type: Text , Book chapter
- Relation: Science and Racket Sports IV p.
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- Description: Tennis performance is multi-faceted, characterized by an intricate integration of physical attributes, perceptual skill and technical proficiency. The dyanamics of the sport and the various styles adopted by players (e.g. baseline or serve and volley), ensures that there is no predetermined match intensity or duration. Similarly, variable environmental conditions challenge sustained performance excellence. Success at the elite is often determined by one's ability to resist fatigue.
An integrated physiological and performance profile of professional tennis
- Authors: Hornery, Daniel , Farrow, Damian , Mujika, Inigo , Young, Warren
- Date: 2007
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: British Journal of Sports Medicine Vol. 41, no. 8 (2007), p. 531-536
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- Description: Objective: To describe the physiological responses to tournament tennis in relation to prevailing environmental conditions, match notation, and skills that underpin performance. Design: 14 male professional tennis players (mean (SD) age, 21.4 (2.6) years; height, 183.0 (6.9) cm; body mass, 79.2 (6.4) kg) were studied while contesting international tennis tournaments. Environmental conditions, match notation, physiological (core temperature, hydration status, heart rate, blood variables), and performance indices (serve kinematics, serve velocity, error rates) were recorded. Results: Hard and clay court tournaments elicited similar peak core temperature (38.9 (0.3) v 38.5 (0.6)°C) and average heart rate (152 (15) v 146 (19) beats/min) but different body mass deficit (1.05 (0.49) v 0.32 (0.56)%, p<0.05). Average pre-match urine specific gravity was 1.022 (0.004). Time between points was longer during hard court matches (25.1 (4.3) v 17.2 (3.3) s, p<0.05). Qualitative analysis of first and second serves revealed inverse relations between the position of the tossing arm at ball release and the position of the ball toss and progressive match time (respectively, r= -0.74 and r= -0.73, p<0.05) and incurred body mass deficit (r=0.73 and r=0.73, p<0.05). Conclusions: Participants began matches in a poor state of hydration, and experienced moderate thermoregulatory strain and dehydration during competition. These adverse physiological conditions may compromise performance and influence notational analyses.
- Description: C1
- Description: 2003005645
Caffeine, carbohydrate, and cooling use during prolonged simulated tennis
- Authors: Hornery, Daniel , Mujika, Inigo , Young, Warren , Farrow, Damian
- Date: 2007
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: International Journal of Sports Physiology and Performance Vol. 2, no. 4 (2007), p. 423-438
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- Description: Purpose: To determine the effects of prolonged simulated tennis on performance and the ergogenic potential of caffeine, carbohydrates, and cooling. Methods: Twelve highly trained male tennis players (age 18.3 ± 3.0 y, height 178.8 ± 8.5 cm, body mass 73.95 ± 12.30 kg, mean ± SD) performed 4 simulated matches (2 h 40 min) against a ball machine on an indoor hard court. The counterbalanced experimental trials involved caffeine supplementation (3 mg/kg), carbohydrate supplementation (6% solution), precooling and intermittent cooling, and placebo control. Physiological markers (core temperature, heart rate, blood lactate, and blood glucose), subjective responses (ratings of perceived exertion and thermal sensation), stroke velocity and accuracy, serve kinematics, and tennis-specific perceptual skill quantified the efficacy of interventions. Results: Significant effects of time (P < .01) reflected increased physiological demand, reduced serve velocity and ground-stroke velocity and accuracy, and a slowing of the serve racket-arm acceleration phase. Caffeine increased serve velocity (165 ± 15 km/h) in the final set of the match (P = .014) compared with placebo (159 ± 15 km/h, P = .008) and carbohydrate (158 ± 13 km/h, P = .001) conditions. Carbohydrate and cooling conditions afforded physiological advantage (increased blood glucose, P < .01, and reduced preexercise thermal sensation, P < .01) but did not affect performance relative to the placebo condition. Conclusions: Prolonged simulated tennis induced significant decrements in tennis skills. Caffeine supplementation partly attenuated the effects of fatigue and increased serve velocity. In contrast, carbohydrate and cooling strategies had little ergogenic effect on tennis performance.
- Description: C1
- Description: 2003005648
Fatigue in tennis : Mechanisms of fatigue and effect on performance
- Authors: Hornery, Daniel , Farrow, Damian , Mujika, Inigo , Young, Warren
- Date: 2007
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Sports Medicine Vol. 37, no. 3 (2007), p. 199-212
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- Description: This article reviews research sourced through sport science and medical journal databases (SportDiscus® and PubMed) that has attempted to quantify the effects of fatigue on tennis performance. Specific physiological perturbations and their effects on common performance measures, such as stroke velocity and accuracy, are discussed. Current literature does not convincingly support anecdotal assertions of overt performance decrements during prolonged matches or matches played during unfavourable (e.g. hot and humid) environmental conditions. The constraints of field-based research have presented, and continue to present, a methological challenge to investigators within this domain. Limitations of previous investigations have included the following: (i) a restricted measurement approach to the mulifaceted skills that form the basis of match performance; (ii) a lack of sensitivity and large variability in skill or performance measures; (iii) usage of non tennis-specific methods to induce fatigue; and (iv) fatigue levels failing to reflect those recorded in match play. Hyperthermia, dehydration and hypoglycaemia have all been identified as common challenges to sustained performance proficiency in tennis, with emerging evidence suggesting central fatigue may also be a key stressor. Mixed results underpin attempts to mitigate physiological compromise and in situ performance deterioration through application of potential ergogenetic strategies (e.g. carbohydrate and caffeine supplementation, and hyperhydration). Methodological limitations are again a likely explanation, but positive findings from other skill-based sports should encourage further research in tennis. To date, tennis has largely relied on traditional methods to measure performance and has not yet realised the benefits of new sports science methods. Future research is encouraged to adopt methodological approaches that capture the multi-dimensional nature of tennis. This can be achieved through the incorporation of multifaceted performance assessment (i.e. perceptual-cognitive and biomechanical measurement approaches), the improvement of measurement sensitivity in the field setting and through the use of experimental settings that accurately simulate the energetic demands of match play. © 2007 Adis Data Information BV. All rights reserved.
- Description: C1
- Description: 2003005663
A review of agility : Practical applications for strength and conditioning
- Authors: Young, Warren , Farrow, Damian
- Date: 2006
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Strength and Conditioning Journal Vol. 28, no. 5 (2006), p. 24-29
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- Description: Agility is an important component of many sports but has not been extensively researched. The various components that contribute to agility performance are discussed and training guidelines are provided. There appears to be limited transfer to agility performance from straight sprint training as well as from general strength training. The principle of training specificity is emphasized to achieve maximum transfer to on-field performance.
- Description: C1
- Description: 2003002120
The development of a test of reactive agility for netball : A new methodology
- Authors: Farrow, Damian , Young, Warren , Bruce, Lyndell
- Date: 2005
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport Vol. 8, no. 1 (2005), p. 52-60
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- Description: The purpose of this study was to present a new methodology for the measurement of agility for netball that is considered more ecologically valid than previous agility tests. Specifically, the agility performance of highly-skilled (n=12), moderately-skilled (n=12) and lesser-skilled players (n=8) when responding to a life-size, interactive video display of a netball player initiating a pass was compared to a traditional, pre-planned agility movement where no external stimulus was present. The total movement times and decision times of the players were the primary dependent measures of interest. A second purpose of the research was to determine the test-retest reliability of the testing approach. Results revealed significant differences existed between the 2 test conditions demonstrating that they were measuring different types of agility. The highly-skilled group was significantly faster in both the reactive and planned test conditions relative to the lesser-skilled group, while the moderately-skilled group was significantly faster than the lesser-skilled group in the reactive test condition. The decision time component within the reactive test condition revealed that the highly-skilled players made significantly faster decisions than the lesser-skilled players. It is reasoned that it is this decision-making component of reactive agility that contributes to the significant differences between the two test conditions. The testing approach was shown to have good test-retest reliability with an intra-class correlation of r= .83.
- Description: C1
- Description: 2003001188