Development of a judo specific reactive agility test: A reliability and validity study

Agility is an important part of sport performance as a physical fitness parameter. Primary aim of this study was to develop a novel reactive agility test for judo athletes and investigate its reliability and validity as well as to show its relation between judo-specific reactive agility test and physical fitness test scores. The study included 34 male judo athletes aged between 18-35 from Turkish National Judo Team. Participants completed the Ippon Reactive Agility Test (IRCT), Lower Quadrant Y Balance Test (ALT-YDT), Upper Quadrant Y Balance Test (UST-YDT), Flamingo Balance Test (FDT), 20 meters Sprint Test (20mST), Standing Bilateral Long Jump Test (DUAT), Hand Grip strength (EKT), T Agility Test (T-CT), Nelson Hand Reaction Test (NERT) and Judo Specific Fitness Test (JOFT). The test–retest reliability of the IRCT was high (ICC: 0.82). IRCT scores was successful to distinguish the athletes based on their participation levels and the total number of medals won; that indicates its good construct validity in Judo athletes (respectively AUC > 0.7, U= 41.5; X2 = 18.48; p < 0.05). There were medium to strong correlations between the IRCT and other physical fitness test scores (r = 0.34 - 0.73; min – max). IRCT is a judo-specific, newly designed, and construct validated reactive agility assessment method that can discriminate between elite and non-elite judo athletes. It is recommended for use by sports physiotherapists and coaches, especially those working with judo athletes, monitoring and assessing of reactive agility performance objectively, and as a physical fitness test for return-to-sport and injury risk analysis in sports injury rehabilitation.