(3) EXAMINATION OF DIFFERENT FOOTWORK ON REACTIVE AGILITY

In most sports, reactive agility (RA) is crucial, as athletes must cognitively respond to a stimulus, then organize a movement pattern to move the body quickly to a specific location. Critical components of reactive agility in athletics are response time and recognizing how to react to certain stimuli. PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to investigate optimal footwork techniques for reactive agility time. Secondly, to determine if there is a correlation between countermovement jump height (CMJ) and RA. METHODS: Sixteen current competitive NCAA Division III tennis players (7 females: 21.1 ± 1.2 years; 163.6 ± 6.7 cm; 67.2 kg ± 17.0 kg and 9 males: 21.8 ± 2.2 years; 185.7 ± 6.1 cm; 80.0 ± 10 kg) were recruited as participants. One testing session for each participant recorded RA time across two conditions: starting the run with a split-step (SS), where a small jump preceded movement, or a no-split-step (NSS) where no small prep step was allowed prior to movement. The order of each condition was randomized for each participant, and three trials were performed for each condition. The average reaction time (RT), movement time (MT), and total time (RT + MT = TT) were recorded and analyzed. Finally, each subject performed three maximal CMJ on a force plate to collect jumping heights to use in correlations to RA performance. RESULTS: Analysis of variance revealed a significant difference in RT, with the SS being faster than the NSS (p < 0.0001). Meanwhile, the NSS resulted in significantly less MT compared to the SS (p < 0.001). A significant predictive relationship was displayed between RA and CMJ height (r2 = 0.47, p < 0.01). No significant differences were seen in TT between the SS and NSS. CONCLUSION: There was no significant difference in TT between the SS and NSS. Although RT was lower with the SS, MT was lower with the NSS, making TT equal and indifferent. In addition, an athlete’s CMJ height was significantly related to TT. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS: The footwork used when reacting to a stimulus should be based on preference and body anthropometrics. The CMJ could be used as an assessment to predict an athlete’s RA performance. So when profiling athletes using sports technology, the qualities needed for a high CMJ could parallel what is needed for good RA, so training protocols could be properly administered to improve both. 




Acknowledgements: None