Agreement Between a Motorized Resistance Device and Traditional Systems for Sprint and Change-of-Direction Testing in...

Area of Science:

• Sports Science
• Biomechanics
• Athletic Performance

Background:

• Accurate measurement of sprint and change-of-direction (COD) performance is crucial for athlete assessment.
• Traditional methods like timing gates are established, but newer technologies like motorized sprint resistance devices (MSRD) and inertial measurement units (IMUs) offer potential advancements.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the agreement between a motorized sprint resistance device (MSRD) and traditional systems (timing gates, IMU) for assessing linear sprint and COD performance in elite female volleyball players.

Main Methods:

• Sixteen elite female volleyball players performed 18.29m sprints and 5-10-5 COD drills.
• Performance was simultaneously measured using an MSRD, timing gates, and an IMU.

Main Results:

• The MSRD demonstrated strong agreement (high correlations) with timing gates for both sprint and 5-10-5 drill times, despite statistically significant mean differences.
• For peak velocity, the MSRD and IMU showed no significant differences during sprints and 5-10-5 drills, but correlations were moderate for sprints and weak for 5-10-5 drills.

Conclusions:

• The MSRD appears to be a valid tool for measuring sprint and COD times when compared to timing gates in this population.
• The agreement between the MSRD and IMU for peak velocity measurement is less robust, particularly during COD tasks.