Reliability of a reactive agility test for youth volleyball players

Abstract

Introduction. This was a cross-sectional study aiming to test the reliability of a new reactive agility test designed for youth volleyball players to improve both reaction time and hand-eye coordination. Material and methods. Twenty-four youth volleyball athletes (15 girls and 9 boys) were recruited to participate in this study (age: 11.58 ± 2.20 years old). This study used a FitLight Trainer (FITLIGHT Sport Corp., Ontario, Canada), a wireless system using interconnected light-powered sensors, to measure reaction time and hand-eye coordination. The subjects performed the hand-eye coordination test twice, exactly one week apart, for 30 seconds, with three trials performed for each test. Repeated measures ANOVA was used to test the variation of the six trials performed during the two sessions. Results. The analysis comparing the sessions revealed significantly longer reaction time in session 1 than in session 2 (mean difference: 47.85 [95% CI: 10.86 to 84.84]; p < 0.012; ES = 0.128). Across the different trials, the greatest single ICC measure (ICC = 0.645) and average ICC measure (ICC = 0.784) were achieved in trial 3. Across the sessions, the greatest single ICC measure (ICC = 0.951) and average ICC measure (ICC = 0.863) were achieved in session 2. Conclusions. FitLight Trainer is a valid and reliable tool for developing reaction times of youth volleyball athletes.