Importance of Agility Performance in Professional Futsal Players; Reliability and Applicability of Newly Developed Testing Protocols

The purpose of this study was to determine the inter- and intra-testing reliability of newly developed tests of the change of direction speed (CODS) and reactive agility (RAG) in competitive futsal players. Additionally, the developed tests were evaluated for their validity with regard to the differentiation of two performance-levels. Thirty-two professional male futsal players (age = 26.22 ± 5.22 years; body height = 182.13 ± 5.99 cm, body mass = 77.43 ± 8.00 kg) participated in the study. The sample was divided into two groups based on their level of futsal performance: A top-level-group (n = 12) and a team-level-group (n = 20). The variables included body height, mass, body mass index, a sprint over a 10-m distance (S10M), and eight newly developed futsal specific CODS and RAG tests. The CODS and RAG tests were performed by dribbling the balls (CODS_D and RAG_D) and without dribbling (CODS_T and RAG_T), and the performances on the dominant and non-dominant sides were observed separately. All CODS, and RAG tests performed on dominant side and RAG_T tests performed on the non-dominant side had good inter-testing (CV = 5–8%; ICC = 0.76–0.89) and intra-testing (CV = 4–9%; ICC = 0.77–0.91) reliability. However, RAG_D performed on the non-dominant side was not reliable (ICC = 0.60, CV = 10%). The top-level-players outperformed the team-level-players in the CODS and RAG tests that involved dribbling (t-test: 4.28 and 2.40, p < 0.05; effect sizes (ES): 0.81 and 1.5, respectively), while the team-level players achieved better results in the CODS_T (t-test: 2.08, p < 0.05; ES: 0.60). The proposed CODS and RAG tests that involved dribbling over a 3.2-m distance, especially on the dominant side, appeared to be reliable, as well as valid for distinguishing the performance level in futsal players.