A preliminary investigation into the discriminant and ecological validity of the athletic ability assessment in elite Australian rules football

Abstract

Objectives: To establish the discriminant validity of the athletic ability assessment in elite Australian rules football. Secondarily, to examine the association between athletic ability assessment and maximum running velocity extracted from elite Australian rules football game-play. Methods: To establish the discriminant validity of the athletic ability assessment, 43 Australian Football League players from one club were split into two groups based upon playing status; ‘starters’ ( n = 17; selected in 50% of the first 10 games of the Australian Football League season), ‘non-starters’ ( n = 26; not selected in 50% of the first 10 games of the Australian Football League season). Each group performed a modified version of the athletic ability assessment consisting of five foundational athletic movements. An independent-sampled t-test modelled the effect of player group (starters; non-starters) on the total score and for each individual exercise. Pearson product moment correlation was also conducted to establish the association between maximum running velocity and athletic ability assessment. Results: The starters attained a significantly greater total mean score on the athletic ability assessment ( d = 1.04, p < 0.05), overhead squat ( d = 0.96, p < 0.05), double lunge left ( d = 0.64, p < 0.05), single leg Romanian deadlift left ( d = 1.19, p < 0.05) and right single leg Romanian dead lift ( d = 0.79, p < 0.05) relative to the non-starters. Also noted were moderate, positive correlations between maximum running velocity and athletic ability assessment ( r = 0.31–0.46; p < 0.05). Conclusions: The results support the use of the athletic ability assessment to measure movement competency in elite Australian rules football. Accordingly, physical development coaches may consider its integration in high-performance training programs.