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 Despite this, due to the use of outdated definitions of agility in previous literature, research on agility remains limited.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.
Description:
The purpose of this research was to determine 1) the relationship between lower-body strength qualities and baserunning and 2) the relationship between lower-body strength qualities and the time discrepancy between baserunning and linear sprints of the same distance. Twenty-one male baseball players (age: 17 ± 1.11 years; height: 179.5 ± 6.73 cm; body mass: 82.48 ± 11.1 kg) from a State Baseball Academy were tested for peak force (PF) production in an isometric mid-thigh pull (IMTP), peak power (PP) and jump height (HCMJ) in a countermovement jump (CMJ), and reactive strength index (RSI) from a drop jump (DJ). Additionally, they performed sprints from Homeplate to Second Base (54.8mBR) and over a 54.8m linear distance (54.8mLIN), with splits taken at 10m (10mBR, 10mLIN) and 27.4m (27.4mBR, 27.4mLIN). Relationships between all the collected variables plus the difference between 54.8mBR and 54.8mLIN (BRD), relative PF (RelPF) and relative PP (RelPP) were assessed by Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient. Only ten complete sets of data were collected (age: 16.9 ± 1.29 years; height: 180.2 ± 7.07 cm; body mass: 84.67 ± 12.1 kg). RelPF (r = -0.81, p
Description:
A speed program was developed for two male sixteen-year-old Australian Rules footballers who play state level competition. The program targeted acceleration, repeat sprint ability (RSA), and agility, and was performed two days per week on a natural grass oval. Examples of activities are provided for each speed quality. A key activity for acceleration was resisted sprinting involving towing a sled, which encouraged the desired body positions and technique. Repeat sprint ability was developed by prescribing activities containing short sprints with minimal recovery periods. Agility techniques were initially introduced, and then training activities included evasive changes of direction in an attacking role, and also defensive manoeuvres in one-on-one scenarios. A central principle in the creation of training activities was to contextualise them to Australian Rules football, with the intention of maximising transfer to on-field performance. This involved stressing maximum efforts with sound sprint technique under various imposed perturbations, such as the execution of football skills, pressure from an opponent, and fatigue.