Correlations between attaching agility, defensive agility, change of direction speed and reactive strength in Australian footballers
- Authors: Rayner, Russell , Young, Warren
- Date: 2015
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Journal of Australian Strength and Conditioning Vol. 23, no. 6 (2015), p. 108-111
- Full Text: false
- Reviewed:
- Description: Agility refers to “a rapid whole-body movement with a change of velocity or direction in response to a stimulus” (10). This is a separate physical quality to change of direction speed (CODS) which refers to rapid changes of direction which do not involve the cognitive response to a stimulus. There exists a large body of evidence investigating correlations between physical qualities and CODS (2,3,5,15). Despite this, due to the use of outdated definitions of agility in previous literature, research on agility remains limited. To the authors’ knowledge, just one previous study has tested correlations between agility and reactive strength (15). The study tested 24 Australian Footballers using a video stimulus to assess defensive agility and a found small correlation (r = -0.10) between defensive agility and reactive strength (15). Despite this, correlations between reactive strength and CODS were large (r= -0.645), suggesting that reactive strength is more important to CODS than agility. This is consistent with previous research which suggests reactive strength may be important in CODS performance (4,13,14). Nevertheless, as the majority of agility tests used in literature are defensive, no correlational studies have been undertaken to investigate attacking agility and its correlations with defensive agility and CODS. Therefore, it is unknown if attacking and defensive agility are highly correlated or independent skills. In addition, past research has shown a low correlation between defensive agility and reactive strength, but it is unknown if this correlation will be similar for attacking agility (15). Previous research has noted the possibility of a higher correlation to attacking agility due to the speed of and intensity of the approach when approaching an agility scenario (15). As the attacking athlete has more time to make a movement decision, it is possible he or she may perform a more aggressive change of direction, therefore increasing the load on the leg muscles. The purpose of this study is to understand the correlation between attacking and defensive agility and the relationship to reactive strength. This provides coaches with information on the importance of reactive strength to defensive and attacking agility.
Training and testing of 1v1 agility in Australian football
- Authors: Rayner, Russell
- Date: 2020
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
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- Description: Little is known of how agility events occur in the sport of Australian football (AF). As a result, appropriate training and testing methods are unknown. This thesis investigated 1v1 agility in AF to evaluate alternative methods for training and testing agility. The thesis was undertaken in three studies. Study one investigated if training and testing practices used in elite AF align with the demands of competition. A notational analysis revealed substantial variation in movement patterns used by, and the cognitive demands of, athletes in agility events. A survey of high-performance managers in the AFL revealed that a mixture of open and closed training methods are used in elite AF, and that subjective agility assessment is preferred to formal testing. Study two assessed the reliability and ecological validity of a field-based test of attacking and defending agility for AF. The text exhibited excellent inter-rater and intra-rater reliability, as well as moderate test-retest reliability. Characteristics of the test were compared to the notational analysis to assess the ecological validity of the test. While the test did not fully replicate the agility demands of AF, the test improved ecological validity when compared to previous tests described in the literature. Study three evaluated the effectiveness of a four-week 1v1 training intervention for improving attacking and defending agility in Australian footballers. In addition, the study assessed the crossover of attacking training to defending agility and defending training to attacking agility. Improvements in attacking agility were found which were greater for attacking-trained athletes. However, no improvements in defending agility were realised. This thesis indicates that 1v1 training and testing is suitable for assessing and developing agility in Australian footballers. However, 1v1 training may be more suitable for improving attacking agility. Further, agility is context-specific, and testing and training should consider the role of the athlete.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
The agility demands of Australian football : a notational analysis
- Authors: Rayner, Russell , Young, Warren , Talpey, Scott
- Date: 2022
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: International Journal of Performance Analysis in Sport Vol. 22, no. 4 (2022), p. 621-637
- Full Text: false
- Reviewed:
- Description: Agility is essential to success in Australian football (AF). However, the nature of agility events in competition is currently unknown. This study analysed in-game 1v1 agility events to identify the movement and cognitive demands of agility in elite AF. The study described the technique, the angle of change of direction (COD), and the approach speed. Cognitive demands were inferred by recording inter-athlete position and deceptive manoeuvres. Findings revealed sidestepping to be commonly used for both attacking and defending athletes. However, attacking athletes were substantially more likely to use the sidestep technique than their defending counterparts (74% vs 39% of the time). Analysis of movement speeds indicated a preference for submaximal approaches. Further, the movement technique was varied, with the angle of directional change particularly diverse. Overall, the notational analysis indicates a need for agility training and testing that reflects in-game agility demands. To achieve this, training and testing must allow for submaximal movement speeds, context-specific techniques, and the use of deceptive manoeuvres. Field-based or subjective assessment methods are proposed as viable testing alternatives. Further, the effectiveness of recorded deceptive actions suggests that athletes should be provided with training opportunities to practice fake disposals and fake CODs. © 2022 Cardiff Metropolitan University.