Differential Influence of General Anthropometric and Motor Predictors on Pre-planned Agility in Pubescent Boys and Girls: A Multiple Regression Study

Vladimir Pavlinovic; Miodrag Spasic; Nikola Foretic; Dean Kontić; Nataša Zenić

Vladimir Pavlinovic¹, Miodrag Spasic¹, Nikola Foretic¹, Dean Kontić², Nataša Zenić¹

¹Faculty of Kinesiology, University of Split
²University of Dubrovnik

Differential Influence of General Anthropometric and Motor Predictors on Pre-planned Agility in Pubescent Boys and Girls: A Multiple Regression Study

Sport Mont 2022, 20(2), 75-81 | DOI: 10.26773/smj.220612

Abstract

In this study, we investigated the influence of balance, jumping power, and speed as well as morphological variables for three different agility tests in early pubescent boys (n=73) and girls (n=63). The predictors included body height and mass, body fat, high jumps, the overall stability index, ankle mobility, and a 10 and a 15 m sprint. The statistical analysis included calculations of correlations, regression models for the correlated variables, and the validation of the regression models. The calculated regression models for the male group explained 38% of the variance in a Zig-Zag test, 12% in a 20-yard test (20Y), and 81% in a T-test. The significant regression model for the Zig-Zag test included body mass, high jumps, and a 10 m sprint. The 20Y test had no predictors in the male group. For the T-test, the only predictor was the 10 m sprint. The calculated regression models for the female group explained 57% of the variance in the Zig-Zag test, 32% in the 20Y test, and 42% in the T-test. The significant regression model in the female group included only the 10 m sprint for all three agility criteria. The regression models were cross-validated using the second half of the sample (boys: n=36; girls: n=31). The correlation between the predicted and the achieved scores provided a statistically significant validation for all agility tests.

Keywords

morphology, change of direction, motor abilities, children, mobility

View full article
(PDF – 298KB)

References

Acar, H., & Eler, N. (2019). The Effect of Balance Exercises on Speed and Agility in Physical Education Lessons. Universal Journal of Educational Research, 7(1), 74-79.

Balyi, I., & Hamilton, A. (2004). Long-term athlete development: Trainability in childhood and adolescence. Olympic Coach, 16(1), 4-9.

Barnes, J. L., Schilling, B. K., Falvo, M. J., Weiss, L. W., Creasy, A. K., & Fry, A. C. (2007). Relationship of jumping and agility performance in female volleyball athletes. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 21(4), 1192.

Begu, B., Kryeziu, A. R., & Bahtiri, A. (2018). The influence of anthropometric variables in agility abilities of young basketball players. Sport Sci, 11, 57-60

Cengizhan, P. A., Cobanoglu, G., Gokdogan, C. M., Zorlular, A., Akaras, E., Orer, G. E., Kafa, N., & Guzel, N. A. (2019). The relationship between postural stability, core muscle endurance and agility in professional basketball players. Annals of Medical Research, 26(10), 2181-2186.

Demirhan, B., Botobaev, B., Canuzakov, K., & Serdar, G. (2017). Investigation of agility levels according to different sport branches. Turkish Journal of Sport and Exercise, 19(1), 1-6.

Dhapola, M. S., & Verma, B. (2017). Relationship of body mass index with agility and speed of university players. International Journal of Physical Education, Sports and Health, 4(2), 313-315.

Duthie, G. M., Pyne, D. B., Ross, A. A., Livingstone, S. G., & Hooper, S. L. (2006). The reliability of ten-meter sprint time using different starting techniques. The Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research, 20(2), 251.

Farrow, D., Young, W., & Bruce, L. (2005). The development of a test of reactive agility for netball: a new methodology. Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport, 8(1), 52-60.

Graham-Smith, P., Rumpf, M., & Jones, P. A. (2018). Assessment of deceleration ability and relationship to approach speed and eccentric strength. ISBS Proceedings Archive, 36(1), 8.

Hewit, J., Cronin, J., Button, C., & Hume, P. (2011). Understanding deceleration in sport. Strength & Conditioning Journal, 33(1), 47-52.

Little, T., & Williams, A. (2003). Specificity of acceleration, maximum speed and agility in professional soccer players. London, UK: Routledge

Markovic, G. (2007). Poor relationship between strength and power qualities and agility performance. Journal of Sports Medicine and Physical Fitness, 47(3), 276.

Mathisen, G., & Pettersen, S. A. (2015). Anthropometric factors related to sprint and agility performance in young male soccer players. Open Access journal of Sports Medicine, 6, 337.

Negra, Y., Chaabene, H., Hammami, M., Amara, S., Sammoud, S., Mkaouer, B., & Hachana, Y. (2017). Agility in young athletes: is it a different ability from speed and power? Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 31(3), 727-735.

Philippaerts, R. M., Vaeyens, R., Janssens, M., Van Renterghem, B., Matthys, D., Craen, R., Bourgois, J., Vrijens, J., Beunen, G., & Malina, R. M. (2006). The relationship between peak height velocity and physical performance in youth soccer players. Journal of Sports Sciences, 24(3), 221-230.

Pietrobelli, A., Rubiano, F., St-Onge, M. P., & Heymsfield, S. B. (2004). New bioimpedance analysis system: improved phenotyping with whole-body analysis. European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 58(11), 1479-1484.

Round, J. M., Jones, D. A., Honour, J., & Nevill, A. M. (1999). Hormonal factors in the development of differences in strength between boys and girls during adolescence: a longitudinal study. Annals of Human Biology, 26(1), 49-62.

Sibenaller, B. G., Martino, M. A., Massey, K., & Butler, S. (2010). The Relationship between balance and agility in collegiate athletes (Doctoral dissertation) . Milledgeville, GA: Georgia College & State University.

Sisic, N., Jelicic, M., Pehar, M., Spasic, M., & Sekulic, D. (2015). Agility performance in high-level junior basketball players: the predictive value of anthropometrics and power qualities. The Journal of Sports Medicine and Physical Fitness, 56 (7-8), 884-893.

Spasic, M., Krolo, A., Zenic, N., Delextrat, A., & Sekulic, D. (2015). Reactive agility performance in handball; development and evaluation of a sport-specific measurement protocol. Journal of Sports Science & Medicine, 14(3), 501.

Sekulic, D., Spasic, M., Mirkov, D., Cavar, M., & Sattler, T. (2013). Gender-specific influences of balance, speed, and power on agility performance. The Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research, 27 (3), 802-811.

Sheppard, J. M., & Young, W. B. (2006). Agility literature review: Classifications, training and testing. Journal of Sports Sciences, 24(9), 919-932.

Stirling, L., Eke, C., & Cain, S. M. (2018). Examination of the perceived agility and balance during a reactive agility task. Plos One, 13(6), e0198875.

Young, W. B., Dawson, B., & Henry, G. J. (2015). Agility and change-of-direction speed are independent skills: Implications for training for agility in invasion sports. International Journal of Sports Science & Coaching, 10(1), 159-169.

Young, W. B., & Willey, B. (2010). Analysis of a reactive agility field test. Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport, 13(3), 376-378.