ABSTRACT

Professional netballers have been reported to execute a change in activity pattern on average every 6 seconds. Similarly, soccer players change movement pattern every 4–6 seconds whilst in field hockey a directional change of movement is recorded every 5.5 seconds, further reducing the likelihood of maximum sprint velocity being achieved in such sports. The ability to change movement pattern, perhaps to evade a defender, or react to an attacker, often referred to as agility, can become as critically important as maximal speed. A valid assessment of agility must involve some reaction to a stimulus in addition to execution of a change of direction (COD) to ensure the assessment examines the perceptual-motor capacity of the athlete, or both the perceptual-cognitive and physical factors. The change of direction deficit should be determined to evaluate the athlete's isolated change of direction ability.