Reactive Agility in Competitive Young Volleyball Players: A Gender Comparison of Perceptual-Cognitive and Motor Determinants

Abstract

Limited evidence is available providing specific details about the perceptual-cognitive and motor factors that contribute to reactive agility (RA) and variations between genders in young athletes. The aim of the study was to investigate perceptual-cognitive and motor determinants of RA in competitive youth volleyball players. A total of 135 volleyball players (61 males, 74 females) aged 16-18 years were included in this study. The independent variables were as follows: explosive strength, maximal frequency of movements, simple and complex reaction time, selective attention, sensory sensitivity, and saccadic dynamics. Multiple linear regression analyses showed that explosive strength (β = -0.494; p < 0.001) and complex reaction time (β = 0.225; p = 0.054) accounted for 23% of the variance in RA performance in male players. The best exploratory model for RA contributed 34.5% of the variance in RA for female players with significant determinants of explosive strength (β = -0.387; p < 0.001), sensory sensitivity (β = -0.326; p = 0.001) and selective attention (β = 0.229; p = 0.020). Male athletes obtained better results in RA, in all motor tests (effect size of 0.88 to 2.58) and in five variables of perceptual-cognitive skills (effect size of 0.35 to 0.98). Motor and perceptual-cognitive components significantly contributed to performance in RA in competitive youth volleyball players. Gender differentiates between players' RA performance, motor properties and saccadic dynamics to a large extent, while the remaining analyzed perceptual-cognitive components vary between female and male players to a small and moderate extent.