Agility in Invasion Sports: Position Stand of the International Universities Strength and Conditioning Association (IUSCA)
Invasion sports are team games in which the purpose is to invade the opponents’ territory while trying to score points and minimise the opposition’s scoring. A parameter closely associated with effective movement is agility, and this is generally considered to be a key component of performance.
Agility is a complex skill that is influenced by several physical, technical & cognitive factors. In this position stand, we discuss agility as it relates to invasion sports such as the many football codes. An important concept when conceptualising agility is understanding how it is applied on the field or court. The movements performed in an agility scenario are diverse, & may involve an isolated deceleration, or a range of actions to produce a lateral displacement of the body at various angles & speeds. Due to the diversity of agility actions performed in invasion sports, physical development should include tissue strengthening as well as fast & slow stretch-shortening cycle exercises to cater for different speeds & angles of agility movements. The speed & accuracy of decision-making in agility contests (cognitive component) are determined by the athlete’s ability to anticipate opponent’s actions, visually scan the environment, recognise patterns of play, & predict movement strategies based on knowledge of situations.