Test-retest reliability of strength, power, agility, and sprint performance in female team handball players

This study assessed the test-retest reliability of athletic performance tests in a cohort of trained Norwegian female handball players, as well as a sub-analysis of the test-retest reliability for naturally menstruating players.

Eighteen handball players (naturally menstruating: n = 8) completed performance test batteries on three separate occasions.

The performance test battery included: a 1-repetition Smith machine back squat, maximal handgrip strength tests, counter-movement jumps, squat jumps, a modified agility T-test, and 15-m linear sprints. For the naturally menstruating players, the testing sessions were completed at three hormonally-distinct points within a menstrual cycle (i.e., early follicular, ovulation, and mid-luteal phases). Reliability statistics (intraclass correlations, standard error of measurement, minimum difference, and coefficient of variation) were calculated for each performance test.

Good-to-excellent test-retest reliability was found for all performance measures (intraclass correlation_2,1 point estimates = 0.82 to 0.94), although max squat jumps were somewhat lower (intraclass correlation_2,1 = 0.75 [95 % confidence interval = 0.55, 0.88]). Subgroup analysis for naturally menstruating players also revealed consistently high reliability values for all tests (intraclass correlation_2,1 point estimate = 0.83 to 0.74).

These reliability data support the periodic use of selected athletic tests in routine handball assessments, in order to identify changes in sporting performance and monitor player progress. As test reliability does not appear to be influenced by the menstrual cycle phase, coaches and sports practitioners may schedule testing sessions for all athletes, without concern of a confounding effect from menstrual phases.