Reliability of Change of Direction and Agility Assessments in Youth Soccer Players.

James H Dugdale,Angus M Hunter,Dajo Sanders

doi:10.3390/sports8040051

James H Dugdale, Angus M Hunter + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/sports8040051

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Journal: Sports	Publication Date: Apr 18, 2020
Citations: 24	License type: CC BY 4.0

Affiliation: University of Stirling, Maastricht University

Abstract

Considering the vast physical and neural developments experienced throughout adolescence, the reliability of physical performance may vary in youth populations. This study aimed to examine the reliability of change of direction (COD) and agility tests in youth soccer players. Altogether, 86 youth soccer players, aged 13.6 ± 2.0 years, volunteered to participate. Data were collected from a modified 505 COD test (m505COD) and the Y-sprint drill in both pre-planned (Y-SprintPRE) and reactive (Y-SprintREACT) conditions during 2 sessions, 7 days apart. Anthropometric data including body mass, standing stature, and sitting height were also collected. COD and agility tests demonstrated good reliability (ICC = 0.81–0.91; CV = 1.2–2.0; d = 0.00–0.31; p < 0.01) for our entire sample. However, we observed a small negative relationship between age and intersession differences for the Y-SprintPRE (r = −0.28; p = 0.04), and moderate negative relationships between both age (r = −0.41; p < 0.01), and maturity offset (r = −0.39; p < 0.01) for the Y-SprintREACT. Although the COD and agility tests adopted within this study possess good intersession reliability, we observed greater intersession differences for younger and less mature individuals. We suggest that while COD and agility tests may provide meaningful objective data for monitoring the development of youth soccer players, these tests should be used with caution when evaluating younger, more immature athletes.

Highlights

The open and intermittent nature of competitive soccer places high demand on players to change mode or direction of movement on a constant basis [1,2,3]
The change of direction (COD) and agility tests selected within this study demonstrated good reliability (ICC = 0.81–0.91; coefficient of variation (CV) = 1.2–2.0; d = 0.00–0.31; p < 0.01) for our entire sample
Intra-session typical error of measurement (TE) for the COD and agility tests selected within this study was: modified 505 COD test (m505COD): 2.0% (1.8; 2.2); Y-SprintPRE: 1.5% (1.3; 1.7); Y-SprintREACT: 4.3% (4.1; 4.5), for session 1 and session 2, respectively

Summary

Introduction

The open and intermittent nature of competitive soccer places high demand on players to change mode or direction of movement on a constant basis [1,2,3]. During one season of English Premier League match play, between 1000 and 1500 discrete movement changes were observed per game, with changes in activity occurring, on average, every 3.5 s [4]. While change of direction (COD) sprints precede ~10%. Changes in mode or direction of movement are largely due to external stimuli perceived by the player [6,7]. The skill of agility encompasses these demands and can be defined as “a rapid whole body movement with change of velocity or direction in response to a stimulus” [8]

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