Agility in Team Sports: Testing, Training and Factors Affecting Performance

Area of Science:

• Sports Science
• Biomechanics
• Motor Control

Background:

• Agility is crucial for team sports athletes.
• Growing interest in factors influencing agility, testing, and training.

Purpose of the Study:

• Evaluate agility test reliability and validity in team sports.
• Identify factors affecting agility performance.
• Determine intervention effects on agility.

Main Methods:

• Systematic review following PRISMA guidelines.
• Searched PubMed, Google Scholar, Science Direct, SPORTDiscus.
• Assessed study quality using a custom checklist.

Main Results:

• Good reliability for agility tests (ICC 0.80-0.91) with light, video, human stimuli.
• Lower reliability in youth athletes with video stimuli (0.10-0.30).
• Higher-level athletes were 7.5% faster; reaction time, accuracy, and foot placement linked to agility.

Conclusions:

• Agility tests are reliable, but may be less so in younger athletes.
• Human/video stimuli best for differentiating playing ability.
• Small-sided games and video training show promise for agility improvement.