Decision-making accuracy in reactive agility: Quantifying the cost of poor decisions
- Authors: Henry, Greg , Dawson, Brian , Lay, Brendan , Young, Warren
- Date: 2013
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research Vol. 27, no. 11 (2013), p. 3190-3196
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- Description: Decision-making accuracy and the time cost of incorrect responses was compared between higher- (n = 14) and lowerstandard (n = 14) Australian footballers during reactive agility tasks incorporating feint and nonfeint scenarios. Accuracy was assessed as whether the subject turned in the correct direction to each stimulus. With skill groups pooled, decision accuracy at the first (or only) stimulus (decision time 1) was 94 6 7%, and it decreased to 83 6 20% for the second stimulus (decision time 2; p = 0.01; d = 0.69). However, with skill groups separated, decision accuracy was similar between groups at decision time 1 (higher 95 6 6% vs. lower 92 6 7%; p = 0.6; d = 0.42), somewhat better in the higher-standard group at decision time 2 (88 6 22% vs. 78 6 17%; p = 0.08; d =0.50). But the decrease in accuracy from decision time 1 to 2 was significant in the lower-standard group only (92 6 7% to 78 6 17%; p = 0.02; d = 1.04). However, with skill groups pooled but agility times examined exclusively in trials involving correct or incorrect decisions, incorrect decisions at decision time 1 during feint trials resulted in a shorter agility time (1.73 6 0.24 seconds vs. 2.03 6 0.39 seconds; p = 0.008; d =0.92), whereas agility time was significantly longer in feint (incorrect at decision time 2 only; 2.65 6 0.41 seconds vs. 1.97 6 0.36 seconds; p , 0.001; d = 1.76) and nonfeint trials (1.64 6 0.13 seconds vs. 1.51 6 0.10 seconds; p = 0.001; d = 1.13). Therefore, although decision-making errors typically worsen reactive agility performance, successful anticipation of a feint can produce performance improvements. Furthermore, higher-standard footballers are less susceptible to such feints, perhaps because of superior anticipation. Training to improve decision-making accuracy, particularly involving feint movements, may therefore principally benefit lesser-skilled players and should be practiced regularly. © 2013 National Strength and Conditioning Association.
- Description: C1
Relationships between reactive agility movement time and unilateral vertical, horizontal, and lateral jumps
- Authors: Henry, Greg , Dawson, Brian , Lay, Brendan , Young, Warren
- Date: 2016
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research Vol. 30, no. 9 (2016), p. 2514-2521
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- Description: Henry, GJ, Dawson, B, Lay, BS, and Young, WB. Relationships between reactive agility movement time and unilateral vertical, horizontal, and lateral jumps. J Strength Cond Res 30(9): 2514-2521, 2016 - This study compared reactive agility movement time and unilateral (vertical, horizontal, and lateral) jump performance and kinetics between dominant and nondominant legs in Australian rules footballers (n 31) to investigate the role of leg strength characteristics in reactive agility performance. Jumps involved jumping forward on 1 leg, then for maximum height or horizontal or lateral distance. Agility and movement time components of reactive agility were assessed using a video-based test. Correlations between each of the jumps were strong (r -0.62 to -0.77), but between the jumps and agility movement time the relationships were weak (r -0.25 to -0.33). Dominant leg performance was superior in reactive agility movement time (4.5%; p 0.04), lateral jump distance (3%; p 0.008), and lateral reactive strength index (4.4%; p 0.03) compared with the nondominant leg. However, when the subjects were divided into faster and slower performers (based on their agility movement times) the movement time was significantly quicker in the faster group (n 15; 12%; p < 0.001), but no differences in jump performance or kinetics were observed. Therefore, although the capacity for jumps to predict agility performance seems limited, factors involved in producing superior lateral jump performance in the dominant leg may also be associated with advantages in agility performance in that leg. However, because reactive strength as measured by unilateral jumps seems to play a limited role in reactive agility performance and other factors such as skill, balance, and coordination, and also cognitive and decision-making factors, are likely to be more important. © 2013 National Strength and Conditioning Association.