The basic purpose of the research was to determine the relationship between agility and hip extensor strength. In the work, we checked the interconnections and influences between non-reactive and reactive agility tests and strength of the hip muscles. At the same time, we wanted to analyze the movement characteristics of handball players during changes of direction, where we focused on the direction of turning.
The subjects included in the research were handball players who play wing or back positions and play for clubs in the 1. NLB Slovenian handball league (N = 29; age 22.1±3.1 years). Subjects completed a battery of tests that included a non-reactive agility test “8x40 m sprint with changes of direction”, a reactive agility test “9x5 m sprint with a turn”, a 5m sprint, measurements of maximal isometric strength of the hip muscles, and two types of jumps (long jump and lateral jump).
While interpreting the results, we found that the maximum isometric strength of the hip extensors shows a low negative correlation with the non-reactive agility test and an insignificant to low positive correlation with the reactive agility test. The analysis of influence of the hip muscles on the results of the agility tests showed that strength explains the majority (59.7%) of the variation in the results of the non-reactive agility test, which increases (71.2%) when we include jumps in the analysis. Conversely, the same model was insignificant in the case of the reactive agility test. Based on this, we can conclude that strength has a significant influence on rapid change of direction ability in predefined movements, while in the presence of external stimuli to which the subjects must react, sensory and cognitive abilities of the athlete become more important.
We also found that the majority of handball players in this study had a preferred turning side when changing direction. The side of turning was independent of lower limb ability or lower limb dominance, but a pattern emerged in which subjects with a preferred side of turning showed a non-cross laterality profile.
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