Abstract

The purpose of this study is to determine the age-related effects of power and running speed on agility ability of young soccer players. A total of eighty-one soccer players, who do not have professional contracts with any professional club but play for various local and school teams on a regular basis, have participated (mean age: 17.7±1.16, range 16–19) in this study. Tests consist of anthropometric variables, power and speed measurements, and the agility test (T-Agility). At the completion of the warm-up protocol, players completed assessments of countermovement jump (CMJ), squat jump (SJ), speed (10-, and 30-m sprints, respectively), and the agility test (Agility T-Test). An analysis of variance (ANOVA) analysis was used to compare the parameters between each group and Pearson correlation analyses were applied to determine the relationships between agility test, speed, and power. When evaluated by age, only U16 players displayed moderate correlation between Agility T-Test and S10m and S30m (P<0.05). The only significantly weak correlation was found between the Agility T-Test and S30m for U19 players (P<0.05). Similarly, the only significantly weak correlation was found between the Agility T-Test and CMJ and SJ for U19 players (P<0.05). In conclusion, the results showed that speed and lower extremity power should not be considered as important predictors of agility performance in young athletes.

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