PTS Cambi di direzione e reactive agility eng

It is clear that in complex situations such as those seen in football, rugby, American football or basketball, the stimulus to which a player must adjust the movement of his body, is linked to the following:

·  movements, position and postural attitude of opponents

·  movements, position and postural attitude of team-mates

·  game context

·  tactical situation

Therefore, in agility training or to better define it, reactive agility, the following cognitive components in particular come into play:

·  the perception of incoming information

·  associating the meaning of this information

·  the elaboration of the corresponding movement

Depending on the combination of these three comes the quantification of at least another three factors:

·  the latency period, i.e. the time between the presentation of the stimulus and the start of the motor response.

·  The quality of the motor response

·  The speed at which the motor response is executed

Given that the ultimate aim of agility training is that of performing a movement at the maximum speed possible, in the least amount of time in response to a specific stimulus, it appears obvious that the athlete’s posture and body speed, from the moment the stimulus is presented, have to be adequate.

Thus the athlete most skilled in performing a change of direction, with the shortest latency time and in the fastest way possible, will not necessarily be the person with the highest absolute peak of speed, but the one who is be able to optimize one’s posture and speed, in order to produce a change of direction as effective as possible.