Figure 1 — The components of Agility 6. In a nutshell, agility is vital for successful performances in most sports 6. In these sports, the defending teams are attempting to win possession of the ball by tackling the opposition or forcing errors. Consequently, it is the aim of the attacker to avoid tackles, retain possession, and create scoring opportunities.
In order to do this successfully, the defenders must use the cognitive functions listed above which are all components of agility. For example, if an attacker attempts to suddenly accelerate past the defender, the defender must have a fast reaction time in order to prevent this from happening.
This demonstrates only one very simple match-play related agility movement but exhibits the use of agility nonetheless. Interestingly, higher-level athletes have been shown to perform better on agility tests than lower-level athletes 3, 4, 7, 8, 9.
The video below shows some great examples of speed and agility exercises specifically for American Football. The reactive agility exercises are when the coach initiates movements with his arms that the athletes must respond to by changing direction. As recent knowledge has identified that agility contains a cognitive component, then traditional methods of measuring agility e. Instead, these traditional tests which are only capable of measuring CODs should be replaced with innovative new tests that can measure agility.
This has led to the development of several new agility tests such as:. These tests, therefore, require the athlete to change direction in response to a stimulus whilst moving at high speed.
The following table Table 1 adapted from Bruce et al. Though new tests have been developed which include a reactive stimulus, there is still uncertainty regarding the use of some of these tests.
These uncertainties still remain despite them being deemed both valid and reliable. Some of these uncertainties are:. Given our advancements in the understanding of agility, future research should be directed towards some of the following:.
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Reference List click here to open. In addition, similar RAG tests have been performed in soccer and involved only two reaction options i. Moreover, as a result of sport-specific requirements, there is an evident trend of the development of sport-specific tests, including tests aimed to evaluate different types of agility performances.
For example, Spasic et al. The presented test was shown to be a reliable and valid tool in the evaluation of handball-specific defensive performance Spasic et al. In a more recent study, Sekulic et al. The results showed appropriate reliability of all measurement tools assessed; however, the newly constructed reactive-agility test was the best predictor of player performance level.
Moreover, in this study, the authors introduced the novel concept of testing while including a simple ball handling technique, which enabled them to mimic the real game reactive-agility performance that appears in basketball Sekulic et al.
The main idea of the study was to evaluate this measurement approach for the identification of optimal field position position in game for young soccer players Fiorilli et al.
In general, their results did not enable the differentiation of soccer playing positions on the basis of measured and calculated variables.
However, the experimental approach from this study highlighted the importance of sport-specific testing of agility in soccer, a concept that has also been recognized in other team sports Spasic et al. Thus, they often perform turns, alternate between running and lateral shuffling, and change from forward to backward running.
From previous literature overview, it is evident that CODS and RAG should be considered as vital components for successful performance in team sports including soccer Bate, ; Sheppard and Young, ; Brughelli et al. However, as a result of the absence of soccer-specific reactive agility tests that involve specific stop-and-go movement patterns and ball handling technique, the main rationale for this study was to determine whether newly developed tests of the RAG and CODS will be valid and reliable in the evaluation of soccer-specific agility performances.
Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate the reliability and discriminative validity of newly designed testing protocols aimed at the evaluation of soccer-specific RAG and CODS in youth soccer players. More precisely, we assessed the discriminative validity of the newly developed measurement tools relative to tests of other conditioning capacities in differentiating players of two age categories U17 and U19 teams.
We hypothesized that the newly developed tests of soccer-specific CODS and RAG will depict the differences between the investigated age groups better than other tests of conditioning capacities i.
This cross-sectional field-based study consisted of three phases. In the first phase, we consulted with several experts soccer coaches from a club that participated at the highest level in Sweden regarding the agility movement patterns that are relatively common across all playing positions.
In addition, they were instructed to determine the key situations in soccer that would be applicable for testing the agility performance of all athletes, regardless of their primary playing duties in soccer. The second phase involved testing of all participants.
In the third phase, the reliability and discriminative validity of the applied tests were established by determining the differences between the performance levels of soccer players U17 vs. Testing of the soccer specific change of direction speed and reactive agility. MC, microcontroller; IR, infrared beam. Twenty young male soccer players [age: Participants were recruited if they were currently playing first grade soccer at their age group; had at least 6 years of experience in playing soccer; had a general soccer training history more than three times per week in the previous 6 months; were currently training for soccer more than 8 h per week ; and did not have existing medical conditions that would compromise study participation.
In general, the time of the involvement in soccer was significantly different between the groups [ Both groups had a similar training volume with a training frequency of 6—10 sessions per week. Athletes were in the preparation period and underwent approximately 5 weeks of regular soccer training before testing was conducted. Goalkeepers were excluded from the study. All participants were informed of the purpose, benefits, and risks of the investigation. Testing occurred over 4 sessions: a familiarization session and 3 experimental sessions.
The testing days were separated by 48 h of rest. To avoid diurnal variation, the testing sessions were performed between 10 and 12 am. The participants were provided with verbal encouragement and were instructed to use as much effort as possible during all tests. A standardized warm-up of approximately 10 min in duration was performed at the beginning of all testing days.
This warm-up included a general warm-up, dynamic stretching and specific warm-up exercises. The dynamic stretching included front and lateral lunges, squats with dynamic exercise for the leg adductors, and exercises for the gluteus and gastrocnemius muscles.
After the warm-up, there was an active rest of 3—5 min prior to the testing. The participants subsequently underwent three trials for each test in the study.
Research personnel demonstrated the proper form for the execution of all tests. The participants were required to perform two to three trials to demonstrate technique proficiency and procedure familiarity.
The participants were instructed to perform agility tests as fast as possible and to identify the best movement strategies for themselves. Previous studies within the field have reported that familiarization is a crucial component as athletes typically find a preferable movement repertoire that enables them to achieve their best result Sekulic et al.
On the first testing day, S20M was used to measure the acceleration and speed qualities. The participants stood 1 m behind the start line in a middle stance starting position with the body leaned forward. Timing gates Muscle Lab, Norway were placed on the start 0 m and finish 20 m lines, with reflectors at 1 m in height. The best score was used for the analyses. Those tests were used because of their good reliability and high validity for assessing lower body maximal dynamic strength and explosive power Markovic et al.
All jumps had instructional similarities. The participants were required to hold their hands on their hips during each attempt to avoid arm swing contribution. They were instructed to land on their toes at the same spot as their take-off. All jumps were performed three times with 1. The best score was used for the analysis. Jumps were assessed on a contact mat Muscle Lab, Norway. The obtained number of repetitions six and a load were subsequently used to calculate the estimated 1RM using the equation by Brzycki For the SJ, the participants performed a maximal vertical jump from a starting position of 90— degrees of knee flexion.
The athletes were required to jump as high as possible without countermovement before the jump. This was visually observed by an experienced examiner. For the CMJ, the participants started from an upright position and were instructed to perform a downward movement that was immediately followed by a fast upward movement to enable the highest possible jump height JH. The jump was used to test the stretch-shortening-cycle SSC utilization. The index of asymmetry IA was calculated as the difference expressed as a percentage in the JH between the legs.
When performing the DJ, the participants started in an upright position standing on a wooden drop box 25 cm. They were instructed to step forward of the box without stepping down or jumping up.
At contact with the ground, they were instructed to shorten the contact time CT and maximize the JH as much as possible.
Each protocol consisted of five trials. The photoelectric IR sensor has been shown to be as reliable as high-speed sensors, with a response time of less than 2 ms Hz and a digital output signal.
Because it has a digital output high-low state with an NPN transistor open collector, the sensor is connected through a microcontroller IO port. For the purposes of our study, this device was connected to a laptop PC operated on Windows 7. This equipment has previously been used and proven to be both valid and reliable for reactive agility and CODS assessments Spasic et al.
The participants commenced from the start line, and the timing was initiated when they crossed the IR signal. They often have to quickly switch directions while the ball is moving around the box in order to keep the ball out of the net. You simply cannot make a double save like the one on the left without being an agile keeper. One advantage that goalkeepers have over other players is that they are naturally working on their agility in training.
Close menu. Frequently Asked Questions. All Products. Phone Cases. Soccer Balls. Special Collections. However, his dominating frame provides other advantages, such as being great in the air and scoring from set-pieces. Strikers can also be quite unagile. Overall, football agility is one of the most important skills in the aforementioned sport. Often, the best players in the world; the players that are also most deadly on the pitch, are players who are quick and can dribble at pace, changing direction without losing balance.
Modern football has certainly shifted towards favouring the most athletic players due to both tactical styles of play, as well as advancements and focus on sports science, nutrition and fitness. It is clear that elite players these days are far more athletic and agile than the legends from the previous eras. You must be logged in to post a comment. Steve Farrugia. Football Agility in Defending As shown above, attacking players often use their agility to get away from defenders by dribbling or moving away from them to get on the end of a ball.
It is usually an interesting battle between a pacey, agile striker and a strong, tall centre back, which often results in the defender being strong enough to hold off the striker in most situations, but agile strikers can often get in behind and poach goals due to their speed and quickness of f the mark Football Agility in Goalkeeping Of course, the most important position for agility is probably the goalke e per.
How do Footballers Work on their Football Agility? At any given time, players are likely to be doing one of three movements: Initiation Movements — Starting or changing the direction of movement Actualisation Movements — Trying to move at maximal velocity Transition Movements — Waiting in transition to react to a football-specific stimulus Examples of Football Agility Drills Cone Shuttle Sprints 5 cones can be set out in a diamond shape, with one cone in the centre.
The Footbonaut Borussia Dortmund have a very interesting piece of training equipment called the Footbonaut. Examples of Goalkeeper Agility Drills Goalkeepers also spend most of their training sessions working on football agility drills.
Conclusion Overall, football agility is one of the most important skills in the aforementioned sport. Share 0. Tweet 0. Pin it 0. Leave a Reply Cancel reply You must be logged in to post a comment. Previous Post. Next Post. Related Posts. Soccer is the most played and loved sport in the world. A game of passion, enthusiasm, and love. Every year….
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