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Assessment of repeated reactive agility performance in amateur soccer players
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SCISPO-3115; No. of Pages 4 Science & Sports (2017) xxx, xxx—xxx
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BRIEF NOTE
Assessment of repeated reactive agility performance in amateur soccer players Évaluation des prestations de joueurs de football non-professionnels dans les courses d’agilité réactive J. Matlák a,∗, L. Rácz b, J. Tihanyi b a b
School of PhD Studies, University of Physical Education, Alkotás utca 44, 1123 Budapest, Hungary Department of Biomechanics, University of Physical Education, Alkotás utca 44, 1123 Budapest, Hungary
Received 29 November 2016; accepted 7 June 2017
KEYWORDS Soccer; Repeated reactive agility; Testing
∗
Summary Objectives. — The purpose of the study was to assess the effects of fatigue on repeated reactive agility performance, explosive strength and movement frequency in amateur soccer players. Methods. — Fifteen amateur soccer players (mean age = 23.5 ± 2.5 years; mean weight = 71.2 ± 5.8 kg; mean height = 178.7 ± 6 cm) completed a repeated reactive agility test in which they had to run short routes with changes of direction while reacting to a series of light stimuli. The test consisted of five blocks, and each block comprised five short (≈5 s) running tests. Counter-movement jump height and maximal foot tapping count (completed in 3 s) were measured after each reactive agility block. Results. — There were significant differences between test times in the reactive agility blocks and tapping counts measured after the five reactive agility blocks (P < 0.05), but the results did not show a clear trend among these variables. Non-significant differences were found between counter-movement jump heights measured after the five reactive agility blocks. Non-significant correlations were also observed between counter-movement jump height, foot tapping count and variables measured in the repeated reactive agility test. Conclusion. — The findings of this study emphasize the complexity of reactive agility and the role of cognitive factors in reactive agility performance. The study also highlights the difficulties of assessing repeated reactive agility performance and provides suggestions for future repeated reactive agility testing. © 2017 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.
Corresponding author. Pozsonyi utca 4/C 4/18 1045 Budapest, Hungary. E-mail address: [email protected] (J. Matlák).
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.scispo.2017.06.001 0765-1597/© 2017 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.
Please cite this article in press as: Matlák J, et al. Assessment of repeated reactive agility performance in amateur soccer players. Sci sports (2017), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.scispo.2017.06.001
+Model SCISPO-3115; No. of Pages 4
ARTICLE IN PRESS
2
J. Matlák et al.
MOTS CLÉS Football ; L’agilité réactive répétée ; Testing
Résumé Objectifs. — Le but de l’étude était d’évaluer les effets de fatigue sur la prestation de l’agilité réactive répétée, la force explosive et la fréquence de mouvements dans les joueurs de football non-professionnels. Méthode. — Quinze joueurs de football non-professionnels (âge moyenne = 23,5 ± 2,5 ans; poids moyen = 71,2 ± 5,8 kg; hauteur moyenne = 178,7 ± 6 cm) devaient compléter un test d’agilité réactive répétée consistant à courir de courtes distances avec changements de direction en réagissant à une série de stimuli faibles. La course comprenait cinq étapes et chaque étape comprenait de sprints brefs (≈ 5 s). La hauteur de saut en flexion et le compte de frappes de pied maximal (complétée en 3 secondes) étaient mesurées après chaque étape d’agilité réactive parcourue. Résultats. — On pouvait mesurer d’importantes différences entre les résultats pour chaque course d’agilité réactive et les comptes de frappes de pied prises après les cinq étapes (p < 0,05), mais les résultats ne démontraient pas une tendance nette entre ces variables. Des différences non-significatives étaient observées entre les distances des sauts en flexion prises après les cinq courses d’agilité réactive. Des corrélations non-significatives étaient en plus observées entre hauteurs de saut en flexion, comptes de frappes de pied et les variables mesurées dans le test d’agilité réactive répétée. Conclusion. — Les résultats de cette étude mettent l’accent sur la complexité de l’agilité réactive et le rôle de facteurs cognitifs dans la performance de l’agilité réactive. L’étude montre aussi les difficultés rencontrées lors de l’évaluation de la prestation de l’agilité réactive répétée et offre des suggestions pour les tests futurs. © 2017 Elsevier Masson SAS. Tous droits r´ eserv´ es.
1. Introduction Soccer and other field sports involve numerous dynamic movements, including acceleration, deceleration, and changing direction while running. The ability to efficiently perform whole-body movements with changes in speed or direction in response to a stimulus is known as agility. The two main components of agility are Change-Of-Direction Speed (CODS) and perceptual and decision-making factors [1]. Traditional agility tests focus on CODS, but recent studies investigating agility have employed running tests assessing both CODS and perceptual and decision-making factors. In these studies, authors use the term ‘‘reactive agility’’ to describe situations where participants have to change the direction of running while reacting to visual stimuli [2]. Several studies emphasize that the ability to repeatedly perform high-intensity exercise is one of the most important physical qualities in field sports. Studies investigating repeated sprint performance without reaction to visual stimuli show that fatigue impairs sprinting performance, which is manifested in increased sprint times in subsequent runs [3]. One question arising from the above described is whether the repeated reactive agility test results in a similar effect. To the best of our knowledge, no studies have investigated the effects of repeated reactive agility test on physical performance. Therefore, we aimed to assess the
effects of fatigue on repeated reactive agility performance, explosive strength and movement frequency.
2. Methods 2.1. Participants Fifteen amateur male outfield soccer players (mean age = 23.5 ± 2.5 years; mean weight = 71.2 ± 5.8 kg; mean height = 178.7 ± 6 cm) participated in the study. Players were recruited from Hungarian third and fourth division soccer teams. Participants had at least 10 years of soccer playing experience and were free of injury before and during testing. Informed consent was obtained from all participants after verbal explanation of the experimental design. The study was approved by the University Ethics Committee and was conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki.
2.2. Procedures After standardized warm-up subjects performed the repeated reactive agility test, Counter-Movement Jump (CMJ) tests, and Foot Tapping Tests (FFT) on the SpeedCourt system (Globalspeed GmbH, Hemsbach, Germany). The device consists of nine square mats with touch sensor,
Please cite this article in press as: Matlák J, et al. Assessment of repeated reactive agility performance in amateur soccer players. Sci sports (2017), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.scispo.2017.06.001
+Model SCISPO-3115; No. of Pages 4
ARTICLE IN PRESS
Assessment of repeated reactive agility performance in amateur soccer players
Figure 1
3
Schematic illustration of the testing procedure.
Figure 2 Average total times in reactive agility blocks. ATt 1: Average Total time agility 1; ATt 2: Average Total time agility 2; ATt 3: Average Total time agility 3; ATt 4: Average Total time agility 4; ATt 5: Average Total time agility 5; *: significantly shorter than ATt1, ATt2 and ATt4.
a monitor, and a personal computer. In the reactive agility test, subjects were directed to move between squares according to a pattern of alternatively blinking squares on the device monitor. The subjects’ main goal was to move to the signaled square within the shortest possible period of time. Five squares were illuminated, one after another. The moment the participant stepped on the appropriate sensor on the court, another square was illuminated on the screen. This test (running with four unexpected directional changes: total distance of 9.3—15.6 m) was repeated five times with a 15-second rest between trials. After the five running tests (agility block), we conducted three CMJ tests (the best attempt was used for statistical analysis) and an
FTT. In the FTT participants made as many alternating footsteps as possible within a 3-second period. This sequence (five running tests, counter-movement jumping, foot tapping) was repeated five times. In summary, participants completed five reactive agility blocks, with vertical jump and FTTs after each block (CMJ test Agility 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and Tapping Agility 1, 2, 3, 4, 5) (Fig. 1). The Average Total time (ATt), was measured during the test. The ‘‘total time’’ refers to the time interval between the start signal and the moment the participant’s foot touched the fifth square. The average of the five total times of the agility blocks were used for further statistical analysis (ATt 1, 2, 3, 4, 5).
Please cite this article in press as: Matlák J, et al. Assessment of repeated reactive agility performance in amateur soccer players. Sci sports (2017), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.scispo.2017.06.001
+Model SCISPO-3115; No. of Pages 4
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J. Matlák et al.
2.3. Statistical Analyses Analyses were carried out using Statistica software (ver. 12.0; StatSoft Inc., Tulsa, OK, USA). Paired t-tests were used to determine differences between means. Pearson’s product-moment correlation was applied to determine relationships among variables. The threshold for statistical significance was set at P ≤ 0.05.
3. Results 3.1. Reactive agility block times ATt 3 and ATt 5 were found to be significantly shorter than ATt 1, ATt 2 and ATt 4 (P < 0.05) (Fig. 2).
3.2. Relationships among vertical jumping and reactive agility test results There were non-significant correlations between CMJ height and variables measured in the reactive agility test.
4. Discussion The total times recorded in the agility blocks did not illustrate a clear trend, as ATt3 and ATt5 were found to be shorter than the other three ATts, and the ATts did not increase in subsequent blocks (Fig. 2). This result is in contrast with previous studies, which found a decrement in repeated sprint test results [3]. One reason for this discrepancy may be the difference between running patterns used in the reactive agility blocks. We used 10 different running patterns, and each agility block consisted of 5 of these 10 running patterns. The sequence of the running patterns among reactive agility blocks was the same for all participants. The running patterns were similar in that all of them consisted of five short paths and four changes of running direction. However, the running patterns differed in their total length (range: 9.3—15.9 m), the length of the running paths (range: 1.5—4.2 m), and the angles of the directional changes (range: 0—160◦ ). Although the average total length in the blocks was very similar (range: 11.58—12.66 m), the difference between individual running patterns may have resulted in the agility blocks being more or less demanding for the participants; in turn, this may have affected test times, fatigue and performance in subsequent tests. Another factor that may have influenced performance during the repeated reactive agility test is the beneficial effect of intense, intermittent exercise on cognitive
performance. Studies have shown improved cognitive performance after short, intermittent bouts of high-intensity exercise. In the present study, the short bouts (5 × ≈5 s) of reactive agility runs may have enhanced the cognitive performance of our participants and improved their results in the subsequent reactive agility blocks. This is consistent with findings showing that exercise-induced enhancement of arousal may improve cognitive performance [4]. Considering the role of cognitive ability in agility performance, the above-mentioned short-term facilitation and enhanced arousal levels may have counterbalanced the effects of physical fatigue.
5. Conclusion The present study illustrates the difficulty of testing repeated reactive agility and monitoring the effects of fatigue. Future research should focus on developing repeated reactive agility tests that are not only specific, but also precisely monitor the effects of fatigue. To accurately compare test results and assess the impact of fatigue, the running patterns used in repeated reactive agility tests should be similar in terms of their total length, the length of the running paths between changes of direction, and the angles of directional changes. However, such tests should also be sufficiently random to test the cognitive component of agility. Our results suggest that increased levels of arousal and facilitation of cognitive function may allow participants to maintain repeated reactive agility performance despite the presence of fatigue. The results of the study emphasize the complexity of agility and the roles of perceptual and decision-making factors.
Disclosure of interest The authors declare that they have no competing interest.
References [1] Sheppard JM, Young WB. Agility literature review: classifications, training and testing. J Sports Sci 2006;24(9):919—32. [2] Young W, Rogers N. Effects of small-sided game and changeof-direction training on reactive agility and change-of-direction speed. J Sports Sci 2014;32(4):307—14. [3] Rampinini E, Bishop D, Marcora SM, Bravo DF, Sassi R, Impellizzeri FM. Validity of simple field tests as indicators of match-related physical performance in top-level professional soccer players. Int J Sports Med 2007;28(3):228—35. [4] Lambourne K, Tomporowski P. The effect of exercise-induced arousal on cognitive task performance: a meta-regression analysis. Brain Res 2010;1341:12—24.
Please cite this article in press as: Matlák J, et al. Assessment of repeated reactive agility performance in amateur soccer players. Sci sports (2017), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.scispo.2017.06.001
ARTICLE IN PRESS
SCISPO-3115; No. of Pages 4 Science & Sports (2017) xxx, xxx—xxx
Disponible en ligne sur
ScienceDirect www.sciencedirect.com
BRIEF NOTE
Assessment of repeated reactive agility performance in amateur soccer players Évaluation des prestations de joueurs de football non-professionnels dans les courses d’agilité réactive J. Matlák a,∗, L. Rácz b, J. Tihanyi b a b
School of PhD Studies, University of Physical Education, Alkotás utca 44, 1123 Budapest, Hungary Department of Biomechanics, University of Physical Education, Alkotás utca 44, 1123 Budapest, Hungary
Received 29 November 2016; accepted 7 June 2017
KEYWORDS Soccer; Repeated reactive agility; Testing
∗
Summary Objectives. — The purpose of the study was to assess the effects of fatigue on repeated reactive agility performance, explosive strength and movement frequency in amateur soccer players. Methods. — Fifteen amateur soccer players (mean age = 23.5 ± 2.5 years; mean weight = 71.2 ± 5.8 kg; mean height = 178.7 ± 6 cm) completed a repeated reactive agility test in which they had to run short routes with changes of direction while reacting to a series of light stimuli. The test consisted of five blocks, and each block comprised five short (≈5 s) running tests. Counter-movement jump height and maximal foot tapping count (completed in 3 s) were measured after each reactive agility block. Results. — There were significant differences between test times in the reactive agility blocks and tapping counts measured after the five reactive agility blocks (P < 0.05), but the results did not show a clear trend among these variables. Non-significant differences were found between counter-movement jump heights measured after the five reactive agility blocks. Non-significant correlations were also observed between counter-movement jump height, foot tapping count and variables measured in the repeated reactive agility test. Conclusion. — The findings of this study emphasize the complexity of reactive agility and the role of cognitive factors in reactive agility performance. The study also highlights the difficulties of assessing repeated reactive agility performance and provides suggestions for future repeated reactive agility testing. © 2017 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.
Corresponding author. Pozsonyi utca 4/C 4/18 1045 Budapest, Hungary. E-mail address: [email protected] (J. Matlák).
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.scispo.2017.06.001 0765-1597/© 2017 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.
Please cite this article in press as: Matlák J, et al. Assessment of repeated reactive agility performance in amateur soccer players. Sci sports (2017), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.scispo.2017.06.001
+Model SCISPO-3115; No. of Pages 4
ARTICLE IN PRESS
2
J. Matlák et al.
MOTS CLÉS Football ; L’agilité réactive répétée ; Testing
Résumé Objectifs. — Le but de l’étude était d’évaluer les effets de fatigue sur la prestation de l’agilité réactive répétée, la force explosive et la fréquence de mouvements dans les joueurs de football non-professionnels. Méthode. — Quinze joueurs de football non-professionnels (âge moyenne = 23,5 ± 2,5 ans; poids moyen = 71,2 ± 5,8 kg; hauteur moyenne = 178,7 ± 6 cm) devaient compléter un test d’agilité réactive répétée consistant à courir de courtes distances avec changements de direction en réagissant à une série de stimuli faibles. La course comprenait cinq étapes et chaque étape comprenait de sprints brefs (≈ 5 s). La hauteur de saut en flexion et le compte de frappes de pied maximal (complétée en 3 secondes) étaient mesurées après chaque étape d’agilité réactive parcourue. Résultats. — On pouvait mesurer d’importantes différences entre les résultats pour chaque course d’agilité réactive et les comptes de frappes de pied prises après les cinq étapes (p < 0,05), mais les résultats ne démontraient pas une tendance nette entre ces variables. Des différences non-significatives étaient observées entre les distances des sauts en flexion prises après les cinq courses d’agilité réactive. Des corrélations non-significatives étaient en plus observées entre hauteurs de saut en flexion, comptes de frappes de pied et les variables mesurées dans le test d’agilité réactive répétée. Conclusion. — Les résultats de cette étude mettent l’accent sur la complexité de l’agilité réactive et le rôle de facteurs cognitifs dans la performance de l’agilité réactive. L’étude montre aussi les difficultés rencontrées lors de l’évaluation de la prestation de l’agilité réactive répétée et offre des suggestions pour les tests futurs. © 2017 Elsevier Masson SAS. Tous droits r´ eserv´ es.
1. Introduction Soccer and other field sports involve numerous dynamic movements, including acceleration, deceleration, and changing direction while running. The ability to efficiently perform whole-body movements with changes in speed or direction in response to a stimulus is known as agility. The two main components of agility are Change-Of-Direction Speed (CODS) and perceptual and decision-making factors [1]. Traditional agility tests focus on CODS, but recent studies investigating agility have employed running tests assessing both CODS and perceptual and decision-making factors. In these studies, authors use the term ‘‘reactive agility’’ to describe situations where participants have to change the direction of running while reacting to visual stimuli [2]. Several studies emphasize that the ability to repeatedly perform high-intensity exercise is one of the most important physical qualities in field sports. Studies investigating repeated sprint performance without reaction to visual stimuli show that fatigue impairs sprinting performance, which is manifested in increased sprint times in subsequent runs [3]. One question arising from the above described is whether the repeated reactive agility test results in a similar effect. To the best of our knowledge, no studies have investigated the effects of repeated reactive agility test on physical performance. Therefore, we aimed to assess the
effects of fatigue on repeated reactive agility performance, explosive strength and movement frequency.
2. Methods 2.1. Participants Fifteen amateur male outfield soccer players (mean age = 23.5 ± 2.5 years; mean weight = 71.2 ± 5.8 kg; mean height = 178.7 ± 6 cm) participated in the study. Players were recruited from Hungarian third and fourth division soccer teams. Participants had at least 10 years of soccer playing experience and were free of injury before and during testing. Informed consent was obtained from all participants after verbal explanation of the experimental design. The study was approved by the University Ethics Committee and was conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki.
2.2. Procedures After standardized warm-up subjects performed the repeated reactive agility test, Counter-Movement Jump (CMJ) tests, and Foot Tapping Tests (FFT) on the SpeedCourt system (Globalspeed GmbH, Hemsbach, Germany). The device consists of nine square mats with touch sensor,
Please cite this article in press as: Matlák J, et al. Assessment of repeated reactive agility performance in amateur soccer players. Sci sports (2017), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.scispo.2017.06.001
+Model SCISPO-3115; No. of Pages 4
ARTICLE IN PRESS
Assessment of repeated reactive agility performance in amateur soccer players
Figure 1
3
Schematic illustration of the testing procedure.
Figure 2 Average total times in reactive agility blocks. ATt 1: Average Total time agility 1; ATt 2: Average Total time agility 2; ATt 3: Average Total time agility 3; ATt 4: Average Total time agility 4; ATt 5: Average Total time agility 5; *: significantly shorter than ATt1, ATt2 and ATt4.
a monitor, and a personal computer. In the reactive agility test, subjects were directed to move between squares according to a pattern of alternatively blinking squares on the device monitor. The subjects’ main goal was to move to the signaled square within the shortest possible period of time. Five squares were illuminated, one after another. The moment the participant stepped on the appropriate sensor on the court, another square was illuminated on the screen. This test (running with four unexpected directional changes: total distance of 9.3—15.6 m) was repeated five times with a 15-second rest between trials. After the five running tests (agility block), we conducted three CMJ tests (the best attempt was used for statistical analysis) and an
FTT. In the FTT participants made as many alternating footsteps as possible within a 3-second period. This sequence (five running tests, counter-movement jumping, foot tapping) was repeated five times. In summary, participants completed five reactive agility blocks, with vertical jump and FTTs after each block (CMJ test Agility 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and Tapping Agility 1, 2, 3, 4, 5) (Fig. 1). The Average Total time (ATt), was measured during the test. The ‘‘total time’’ refers to the time interval between the start signal and the moment the participant’s foot touched the fifth square. The average of the five total times of the agility blocks were used for further statistical analysis (ATt 1, 2, 3, 4, 5).
Please cite this article in press as: Matlák J, et al. Assessment of repeated reactive agility performance in amateur soccer players. Sci sports (2017), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.scispo.2017.06.001
+Model SCISPO-3115; No. of Pages 4
ARTICLE IN PRESS
4
J. Matlák et al.
2.3. Statistical Analyses Analyses were carried out using Statistica software (ver. 12.0; StatSoft Inc., Tulsa, OK, USA). Paired t-tests were used to determine differences between means. Pearson’s product-moment correlation was applied to determine relationships among variables. The threshold for statistical significance was set at P ≤ 0.05.
3. Results 3.1. Reactive agility block times ATt 3 and ATt 5 were found to be significantly shorter than ATt 1, ATt 2 and ATt 4 (P < 0.05) (Fig. 2).
3.2. Relationships among vertical jumping and reactive agility test results There were non-significant correlations between CMJ height and variables measured in the reactive agility test.
4. Discussion The total times recorded in the agility blocks did not illustrate a clear trend, as ATt3 and ATt5 were found to be shorter than the other three ATts, and the ATts did not increase in subsequent blocks (Fig. 2). This result is in contrast with previous studies, which found a decrement in repeated sprint test results [3]. One reason for this discrepancy may be the difference between running patterns used in the reactive agility blocks. We used 10 different running patterns, and each agility block consisted of 5 of these 10 running patterns. The sequence of the running patterns among reactive agility blocks was the same for all participants. The running patterns were similar in that all of them consisted of five short paths and four changes of running direction. However, the running patterns differed in their total length (range: 9.3—15.9 m), the length of the running paths (range: 1.5—4.2 m), and the angles of the directional changes (range: 0—160◦ ). Although the average total length in the blocks was very similar (range: 11.58—12.66 m), the difference between individual running patterns may have resulted in the agility blocks being more or less demanding for the participants; in turn, this may have affected test times, fatigue and performance in subsequent tests. Another factor that may have influenced performance during the repeated reactive agility test is the beneficial effect of intense, intermittent exercise on cognitive
performance. Studies have shown improved cognitive performance after short, intermittent bouts of high-intensity exercise. In the present study, the short bouts (5 × ≈5 s) of reactive agility runs may have enhanced the cognitive performance of our participants and improved their results in the subsequent reactive agility blocks. This is consistent with findings showing that exercise-induced enhancement of arousal may improve cognitive performance [4]. Considering the role of cognitive ability in agility performance, the above-mentioned short-term facilitation and enhanced arousal levels may have counterbalanced the effects of physical fatigue.
5. Conclusion The present study illustrates the difficulty of testing repeated reactive agility and monitoring the effects of fatigue. Future research should focus on developing repeated reactive agility tests that are not only specific, but also precisely monitor the effects of fatigue. To accurately compare test results and assess the impact of fatigue, the running patterns used in repeated reactive agility tests should be similar in terms of their total length, the length of the running paths between changes of direction, and the angles of directional changes. However, such tests should also be sufficiently random to test the cognitive component of agility. Our results suggest that increased levels of arousal and facilitation of cognitive function may allow participants to maintain repeated reactive agility performance despite the presence of fatigue. The results of the study emphasize the complexity of agility and the roles of perceptual and decision-making factors.
Disclosure of interest The authors declare that they have no competing interest.
References [1] Sheppard JM, Young WB. Agility literature review: classifications, training and testing. J Sports Sci 2006;24(9):919—32. [2] Young W, Rogers N. Effects of small-sided game and changeof-direction training on reactive agility and change-of-direction speed. J Sports Sci 2014;32(4):307—14. [3] Rampinini E, Bishop D, Marcora SM, Bravo DF, Sassi R, Impellizzeri FM. Validity of simple field tests as indicators of match-related physical performance in top-level professional soccer players. Int J Sports Med 2007;28(3):228—35. [4] Lambourne K, Tomporowski P. The effect of exercise-induced arousal on cognitive task performance: a meta-regression analysis. Brain Res 2010;1341:12—24.
Please cite this article in press as: Matlák J, et al. Assessment of repeated reactive agility performance in amateur soccer players. Sci sports (2017), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.scispo.2017.06.001