Speed and agility

[Guest guest]

The following may be relevant to recent discussions concerning speed

and agility training:

-----------

Polman R, Walsh D, Bloomfield J, Nesti M. Effective conditioning of

female soccer players.J Sports Sci. 2004 Feb;22(2):191-203.

We compared the efficacy of three physical conditioning programmes

provided over a 12 week period (24 h in total) on selected

anthropometric and physical fitness parameters in female soccer

players. Two of the groups received physical conditioning training in

accordance with speed, agility and quickness (SAQ); one group used

specialized resistance and speed development SAQ equipment (equipment

group; n = 12), while the other group used traditional soccer

coaching equipment (non-equipment group; n = 12). A third group

received their regular fitness sessions (active control group; n =

12). All three interventions decreased (P < 0.001) the participants'

body mass index (-3.7%) and fat percentage (-1.7%), and increased

their flexibility (+14.7%) and maximal aerobic capacity (VO2max)

(+18.4%).

The participants in the equipment and non-equipment conditioning

groups showed significantly (P < 0.005) greater benefits from their

training programme than those in the active control group by

performing significantly better on the sprint to fatigue (-11.6% for

both the equipment and non-equipment groups versus -6.2% for the

active control group), 25 m sprint (-4.4% vs -0.7%), left (-4.5% vs -

1.0%) and right (-4.0% vs -1.4%) side agility, and vertical (+18.5%

vs +4.8%) and horizontal (+7.7% vs +1.6%) power tests. Some of these

differences in improvements in physical fitness between the equipment

and non-equipment conditioning groups on the one hand and the active

control group on the other hand were probably due to the specificity

of the training programmes.

It was concluded that SAQ training principles appear to be effective

in the physical conditioning of female soccer players. Moreover,

these principles can be implemented during whole team training

sessions without the need for specialized SAQ equipment. Finally,

more research is required to establish the relationship between

physical fitness and soccer performance as well as the principles

underlying the improvements seen through the implementation of SAQ

training programmes.

----------

Young WB, McDowell MH, Scarlett BJ. Specificity of sprint and

agility training methods. J Strength Cond Res. 2001 Aug;15(3):315-9.

The purpose of this study was to determine if straight sprint

training transferred to agility performance tests that involved

various change-of-direction complexities and if agility training

transferred to straight sprinting speed.

Thirty-six males were tested on a 30-m straight sprint and 6 agility

tests with 2-5 changes of direction at various angles. The subjects

participated in 2 training sessions per week for 6 weeks using 20-40-

m straight sprints (speed) or 20-40-m change-of-direction sprints (3-

5 changes of 100 degrees) (agility).

After the training period, the subjects were retested, and the speed

training resulted in significant improvements (p < 0.05) in straight

sprinting speed but limited gains in the agility tests. Generally,

the more complex the agility task, the less the transfer from the

speed training to the agility task. Conversely, the agility training

resulted in significant improvements in the change-of-direction tests

(p < 0.05) but no significant improvement (p > 0.05) in straight

sprint performance.

We concluded that straight speed and agility training methods are

specific and produce limited transfer to the other. These findings

have implications for the design of speed and agility training and

testing protocols.

-------------

Any comments?

Carruthers

Wakefield, UK