Agility training improved reactive test performance in team-sport players
The pooled result favoured reactive agility training, with most evidence coming from soccer and basketball.
Based on the published abstract. The full paper may contain additional methods, results and limitations.
The 30-second takeaway
Agility-specific training improved performance on tests requiring responses to external cues. Planned agility tests also improved, while the reaction-test result was not statistically significant. These findings concern measured test performance. They do not establish better match performance or a proven optimal training programme for every athlete.
The abstract reports moderate-to-low certainty, substantial within-study variability and possible publication bias. Soccer and basketball dominated the evidence, and female and mixed-gender samples were underrepresented.
What researchers found
Reactive agility test performance
Improvement of 0.65 standard deviations, measured against the usual spread of reactive agility test scores; comparator conditions and assessment timing were unreported.
Different tests assess different skills
Reactive agility tests involve moving in response to external cues; planned tests involve known changes of direction. These are related but distinct tasks, so improvement on a test does not establish better decisions during matches.
Training patterns need caution
Models linked programme duration and training frequency with reactive agility outcomes, while session length had no statistically significant relationship. These study-level patterns cannot establish the best training schedule for an individual athlete.
The original publication
Optimizing Agility Training in Team Sport Players-The Role of Perception- Action Coupling: A Systematic Review with Multi-Level Meta-Analysis.
Zhao Z, Liu Y, Xu K
J Sports Sci Med · 2026
- PubMed ID
- 41710443
- Record checked
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