ACTA UNIVERSITATIS PALACKIANAE OLOMUCENSIS GYMNICA ...

Acta Univ. Palacki. Olomuc., Gymn. 2004, vol. 34, no. 2 61THE AGILITY TEST IN FUNCTIONAL DIAGNOSTICS OF ATHLETESErika Zemková, Dušan HamarInstitute of Sport Sciences, Faculty of Physical Education and Sports, Comenius University, Bratislava, SlovakiaSubmitted in August, 2003The paper deals with the agility test as a diagnostic method for the assessment of the multi choice reaction time ofthe lower limbs. A group of 236 athletes (mean age 21.5 ± 2.9 years, height 178.1 ± 8.1 cm, and weight 72.2 ± 9.4 kg)performed an agility test. They had to touch with either the left or right lower extremity one of the four pads locatedin four corners inside of a 80 cm square. Pads had to be touched in accordance with the location of a stimulus generatedin one of the corners of the screen. The computer based system FiTRO Agility Check was used to generate thestimuli and measure corresponding reaction times. The results showed better agility of lower limbs in adults than inchildren. Cross sectional tests revealed that competitors in table tennis, fencing, karate, ice hockey, soccer, basketball,volleyball, and aikido performed significantly better than physical education students, judokas and wrestlers. In a groupof eight 15-yr old female volleyball players, a repeated test after 6 weeks of training aimed at reaction and speed abilitiesshowed a significantly shorter reaction time as compared to general training. A one-year training period in volleyballled to a significant improvement of the agility skills of athletes related to their actual ranking. The results obtainedindicate that the agility test allows talent identification, differentiation of athletes with different performance levels inagility skills as well as changes of these abilities during short and long term training periods.Keywords: Agility test, multi choice reaction time, sport motor testing, talent identification, training.INTRODUCTIONMulti choice reaction time and movement velocityare the most principal capabilities to be measured inmany sports, such as tennis, fencing, karate, ice hockey,soccer, basketball, volleyball, aikido, etc. For their assessmenta computer based portable device was developedin a laboratory of the Institute of Sport Sciencesby Hamar et al. (1997). The main task of subjects is totouch the contact switch pad in one of four directionsaccording to the position of the stimulus on the screen(Fig. 1a and 1b). As a result the reaction time in eachdirection is displayed (TABLE 1). Its advantage is thatit provides laboratory accuracy in field-testing, which isnecessary, especially these days, when many of the testsare done out in the playing field or gym.Therefore, the aim of the study was to present resultsand experiences with the agility test in the functionaldiagnosis of athletes.MATERIAL AND METHODSAltogether 236 subjects (mean age 21.5 ± 2.9 years,height 178.1 ± 8.1 cm, and weight 72.2 ± 9.4 kg) performedan agility test. They had to touch, as fast aspossible, with either left or right lower extremity, oneof the four pads located in four corners inside of an80 cm square. Pads had to be touched in accordancewith the location of a stimulus in one of the corners ofthe screen. The computer based system FiTRO AgilityCheck was used to generate the stimuli and measure thereaction times (Hamar & Zemková, 1998).In the previous study the reliability of the test procedurewas verified and the protocol standardized by theexamination of 196 persons. Analysis of the repeatedmeasures showed a measurement error of 7.1%, which isin the range comparable to common motor tests (Hamar& Zemková, 1998). The mean of the best 8 reactiontimes to each direction proved to be the most reliableparameter of the test consisting of 3 sets of 60 stimuli(15 in each direction) with a random generation of theirlocalization (Zemková & Hamar, 1998).RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONThe results showed various possibilities of applicationof the agility test in sport motor testing ofathletes:Differentiation of groups of athletes with different demandson the agility of the lower extremitiesCross sectional tests revealed (Zemková & Hamar,1999) that table tennis players (326.1 ± 16.0 ms), fenc-