Pro Agility Shuttle Test

Agility is the ability of an athlete to read a situation, react accordingly and decide the most appropriate way to move at that moment. Most tests then are not agility tests per se, since the player does not have to react to anything, they have to run a pre-planned route; in essence, they know what is about to happen.

Take out the decision-making processes and a test such as the Pro Agility Test (PAT) could more accurately be described as a change of direction test (CODS).

The PAT requires a player to sprint 5 yards to their left, touch a line, turn back and travel 10 yards, touch another line before turning back through the start line as quickly as possible. The PAT has been described as a reliable test (Sporis et al, 2010) that is easy and quick to administer on a field-based setting.

In youth players, whilst variables such as speed & power can be highly trainable (Falk & Tenenbaum, 1996), scores in field tests such as the PAT are heavily influenced by the maturation status of the player (Vaeyens et al, 2008) and it is the role of the coaches to identify and apply the results to each player in the correct manner. It is also the job of the coaching staff to select and administer performance tests that are appropriate for each player and act on the information collected. Periodically, TTi players are placed through several tests to assess their physical performance, with feedback provided on an individual base to each.