Establishing Expert Consensus on Athletic Movement Quality Assessment Components.

Area of Science:

• Sports Science
• Biomechanics
• Exercise Physiology

Background:

• Lack of a unified athletic movement quality assessment in current literature.
• Need for standardized components related to athletic performance.
• Existing assessments do not consistently include skills relevant to physical fitness tests.

Purpose of the Study:

• To define the essential components of a novel athletic movement quality assessment.
• To achieve expert consensus on the movements, procedures, and scoring criteria.
• To establish a foundation for a reliable and valid assessment tool for athletes.

Main Methods:

• A 3-stage Delphi study involving 32 experts (academics and practitioners) with experience in athletic movement quality assessment.
• Stage 1: Consensus on included movements.
• Stages 2 & 3: Determination of procedural instructions and scoring criteria using a 5-point Likert scale.

Main Results:

• Expert consensus (>70% agreement) was achieved for all components of the assessment.
• Six movements were agreed upon: active straight leg raise, shoulder mobility test, squat, push-up, lateral bound, and triple hop.
• Scoring criteria focused on range of motion and movement control.

Conclusions:

• Expert consensus provides a strong foundation for a new athletic movement quality assessment.
• The established assessment components offer a standardized approach for evaluating athletes.
• Further research is recommended to validate the assessment's reliability and its association with physical fitness.