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Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport 15 (2012) 431436
Original research
An integrative test of agility, speed and skill in soccer: Effects of exercise
William Bullock
a
, Derek Panchuk
a,b
, James Broatch
a
, Ryan Christian
a
, Nigel K. Stepto
a,b,
a
School of Sport and Exercise Science, Victoria University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
b
Institute of Sport Exercise and Active Living, Victoria University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Received 20 October 2011; received in revised form 2 March 2012; accepted 10 March 2012
Abstract
Objectives: The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of 45 min of soccer-specic exercise in the reactive motor skills test (RMST); a
novel test which measures sprint, passing and reactive agility (RAT) performance.
Design: A repeated-measures design was used to collect performance data.
Methods: Forty-two high-level amateur male soccer players (age 18.5 3.5 years) were recruited. Participants were familiarised with the
RMST prior to initial testing. Participants undertook 10 repetitions of the RMST before and after 45 min of soccer-specic exercise using the
Loughborough Intermittent Shuttle Test. Eighteen of these participants repeated the RMST for test re-test reliability determination. Paired
t-tests and effect size statistics were used to determine the effect of 45 min of intermittent exercise on RMST performance. Reliability was
assessed using the standard error of measurement.
Results: The exercise protocol resulted in moderate decreases of sprint (3.0 0.9%, mean SD; 1.030 0.09 ES 90% Condence Intervals;
p < 0.00001) and RAT performance (1.5 1.1%; 1.015 0.011; p < 0.05), but improved passing task time (2.7 1.2%; 0.973 0.012;
p < 0.001) and passing accuracy (3.6 3.3%; 1.036 0.33). Change in total test time was trivial. The test-retest coefcient of variation for
the test was 2.4 0.8%.
Conclusions: Soccer-specic exercise decreased sprint and reactive agility performance but improved technical skill performance on a novel,
integrative and reliable test of soccer skill performance. Overall RMST performance time was largely unchanged.
2012 Sports Medicine Australia. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Team sport; Reactive agility; Passing; Sprinting; Reactive motor skills test
1. Introduction
Soccer involves perceptual-motor skills that operate
simultaneously in a rapidly changing environment.
1
Suc-
cessful performance in team sports, such as soccer, requires
well-developed perceptual and decision making skills that
are evidenced by superior anticipatory motor performance.
2
Therefore to maintain ecological validity tests to assess soc-
cer skill should attempt to include reactive or perceptual
components with technical and physical tasks.
The use of match analysis to examine performance is an
ecologically valid method
3
of assessing specic skills includ-
ing tackling, passing, dribbling and shooting.
4,5
However,
this approach lacks experimental control due to complex

Corresponding author.
E-mail address: Nigel.Stepto@vu.edu.au (N.K. Stepto).
interactions between players during a match and variations in
playing conditions. In spite of the limitations, match analysis
has identied tasks which are indicative of player and team
success.
35,6
Skill technique, kicking accuracy and dribbling,
have been shown to deteriorate towards the end of match-
play or fatiguing exercise.
4,7,8
Match analysis has shown
that fatigue also hinders physical performance, with declines
in the amount of sprinting, high-intensity running, and dis-
tance covered,
4,9,10
as well as decreased repeat sprint ability
and sprint speed after match fatigue.
11
Match analysis, how-
ever, does not allow one to determine the contribution of
perceptual-cognitive declines to overall player and team per-
formance.
To understand the importance of the skill and perfor-
mance elements required for success in soccer, and to
evaluate training interventions on skill performance, labora-
tory and/or eld-based tests of one or more skills have been
1440-2440/$ see front matter 2012 Sports Medicine Australia. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.jsams.2012.03.002
432 W. Bullock et al. / Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport 15 (2012) 431436
developed. Many early tests of soccer skill often included
closed skill measures such as slalom dribbling
12
that have
questionable specicity to soccer match-play. Furthermore,
many laboratory/eld tests incorporate the use of static rather
than dynamic passing and shooting tasks,
13,14
including the
Loughborough Soccer Passing Test (LSPT) and the Lough-
borough Soccer Shooting Test (LSST).
15
Despite the validity
and reliability of these tests they do not accurately reect the
skills required in match-play,
15
which involves performing
multiple skills with a distinct perceptual-cognitive compo-
nent in an uncertain environment. Currell et al.
16
attempted
to overcome these issues using four different tests of soc-
cer skills within a 90 min exercise protocol. This approach,
while reliable, still utilised closed skills performance with no
perceptual-cognitive elements in their measures.
Reactive agility, a recent component in athlete skill
assessment, combines physical qualities (e.g., speed, power,
balance)
17
and cognitive skills (e.g., decision making), that
are vital for successful performance in team sports.
2,18,19
Reactive agility provides a measure of perceptual-cognitive
skill, that is difcult to quantify or affect in match-play, but
has been shown to improve after exercise.
20,21
The inclu-
sion of a reactive agility component into soccer skill analysis
would assist our understanding of decision making in inu-
encing player and team success in soccer.
As most soccer skill performance tests lack perceptual-
cognitive elements typically found in soccer match play there
is a need to develop an integrative laboratory/eld-based
soccer performance test. We hypothesise that an integrative
soccer skills test combining physical (sprint), technical (mod-
ied skills component of short passing (despite its criterion
measurement bias)) and perceptual skill (reactive agility) in
a single protocol will reliably determine soccer skill perfor-
mance and be sensitive to high intensity exercise induced
changes. We aim to investigate a novel, integrative test of
soccer skills which combines these components in a sin-
gle test, the reactive motor skills test (RMST), to determine
the effects of soccer-specic interment exercise on skill
performance.
2. Methods
Forty-two high-level, amateur male soccer players
(Table 1) were recruited from local soccer clubs. Each volun-
teer provided written or parental informed consent. Ethical
approval was granted by the institutional ethics commit-
tee who deemed the research procedures complied with the
Helsinki Declaration.
The study, a sub-study of a larger investigation, was con-
ducted over 3 sessions in consecutive weeks at the same
time of day. During session 1, players were characterised
using a number of anthropometric measures including body
mass, height and skin-fold measurements, and 20 m shuttle
run (Yo-Yo Intermittent Recovery Test Level 1). Participants
then undertook ten repetitions of the reactive motor skills test
Fig. 1. Schematic of reactive motor-skills test (not to scale).
(RMST) for familiarisation (Fig. 1). Seven days later (Session
2), participants returned and performed 10 repetitions of the
RMST before and immediately after completing 45 min of
a modied Loughborough Intermittent Shuttle Test (LIST).
Eighteen of the participants (see Table 1 for subject character-
istics) then returned one week later (Session 3), to repeat the
pre-exercise RMST under the same conditions to determine
the reliability of the test.
Dietary and exercise control was achieved by instructing
participants to abstain from caffeine and alcohol for 24 h,
to avoid strenuous exercise for 8 h prior to testing and to
maintain their normal diet before both testing days. Testing
was scheduled around participants training and match-play
commitments to minimise any potential inuence of training
load.
Yo-Yo Intermittent Recovery Test (Level 1), a 20 m shuttle
run was conducted to estimate aerobic tness as previously
reported.
22
The test was used to characterise participants and
determine the intensity of each individuals exercise protocol
which was determined as a percentage of maximal running
speed attained in this test.
Reactive motor skills test (RMST) was designed to
test players sprint speed, skill performance and reactive
agility. Custom made electronic timing gates (SICK, Vic-
toria; Australia) integrated via PC were used to trigger the
display of different video clips of tackling scenarios while
recording time taken to complete the various soccer-specic
tasks. The skills protocol took place on an indoor basketball
court with ve sets of timing gates, two scoring benches, a
W. Bullock et al. / Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport 15 (2012) 431436 433
Table 1
Participant characteristics (mean standard deviation).
Effect of exercise on performance N=42 Test-retest reliability N=18
Age (years) 18 4 18 3
Height (cm) 175 7 177 6
Body mass (kg) 68.9 9.7 69.1 10.8
Sum of 7 skin folds (mm) 62 18 67 20
Yo-Yo intermittent recovery test distance covered (m) 1530 623 1315 460
20 m sprint time (s) 3.2 0.2 3.2 0.2
projector and projector screen set out as shown in Fig. 1.
The test was divided into three sections (Fig. 1); the rst
consisted of a 5 m sprint and the second was a short pass-
ing task adapted from the LSPT.
15
The player sprinted from
the start to a stationary soccer ball placed in the centre of a
5 m 5 m square where they completed a short pass (2.5 m)
against a target with the dominant foot and the opposite target
with the non-dominant foot before trapping the rebound and
running through the third timing gate. The targets consisted
of a 0.1 m central target, surrounded by two 0.25 m scoring
zones. Accuracy was scored as 4 points for contacting the
central target, 2 points in the scoring zone and 1 point a hit
outside the scoring area and 0 for not hitting the target. In
this latter scenario a new ball was provided and the player
incurred a 0.5 s penalty. Combined passing score for the two
passes was used as the measure of passing accuracy. The nal
section of the test consisted of a reactive agility task (RAT);
when the third light gate was triggered a video of a life-size
soccer player dribbling the ball towards the player and cutting
to the left (5 trials) or right (5 trials) was presented in random
order. The test player was instructed to take on a defensive
role and to move in the same direction as the video; run-
ning through one of the nal two timing gates to conclude
the test. Reactive agility was measured by time taken from
the third timing gate until either of the two nal gates was
broken.
Participants performed ten repetitions of the test sepa-
rated by 40 s active recovery while walking back to the start
position (this was sufcient to prevent within-test fatigue).
Players were instructed to complete the test as quickly and
accurately as possible. Performance on the test was assessed
through average time taken on each of the three sections
(sprint time, passing task time (passing time), and reactive
agility time), total time, passing accuracy, skill index (pass-
ing accuracy/passing time), and performance index (passing
accuracy/total time). The indices were used as a measure of
performance that combined speed and accuracy to minimise
the potential bias of a speed/accuracy trade-off.
The LIST was used to simulate the physiological demands
of playing one half of a soccer match.
3
Players com-
pleted three 15-min blocks of the LIST with 3-min rest
periods. Each block consisted of walking, sprinting, run-
ning at 85% and jogging at 50% maximal running speed
respectively.
23
A computer with customised software was
used to provide the participants with audio directives (e.g.
walk, jog, run, sprint, stand still) at individualised
intervals.
The effect of the intermittent exercise protocol on RMST
performance was determined by comparing average sprint
time (s), passing time (s), RAT time (s), total time (s), pass-
ing accuracy, skill index and performance index before and
after the exercise protocol using a Students paired t-test. Sig-
nicance was set at p < 0.05. All data were log transformed
to reduce bias due to non-uniformity of error. Change in
mean (%) with 90% condence limits and effect size were
determined using customised spreadsheets.
24
Magnitudes of
change were classied as substantial when there was a 75%
likelihood of the effect being equal to, or greater than the
smallest worthwhile change. The smallest worthwhile change
was estimated as 0.2 between-subject standard deviation
and classied as trivial (ES < 0.2), small (0.20.6), moder-
ate (0.61.2), large (1.22.0) and very large (>2.0). Effects
were reported as unclear where the 90% condence interval
spanned both substantial positive (worthwhile) and negative
Table 2
Effect of 45 min of intermittent exercise on RMST performance.
%Change after exercise (90%CI) Effect size (90%CI) Effect Statement Signicance
Total time (s)
a
0.6 (1.5 to 0.3) 0.99 (0.981.00) Trivial p =0.2734
Sprint time (s) 3.0 (2.13.9) 1.03 (1.021.04) Large p =0.0001
Passing time (s)
a
2.7 (3.9 to 1.5) 0.97 (0.960.98) Large p =0.0006
RAT time (s) 1.5 (0.42.6) 1.02 (1.001.03) Moderate p =0.0277
Passing accuracy (points) 3.6 (0.37.0) 1.04 (1.001.07) Large p =0.0723
Skill index (points/s) 6.9 (2.910.1) 1.07 (1.031.10) Large p =0.0032
Performance index (points/s) 4.2 (0.77.8) 1.04 (1.011.08) Large p =0.0468
%Change, statistical signicance and effect size of change in means before and after exercise. n =42; 90%CI-90%condence intervals.
a
ve %change indicates a performance improvement by quickening of performance time.
434 W. Bullock et al. / Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport 15 (2012) 431436
thresholds. Reliability of the RMST was determined with
evaluation of the typical error
25
of average times, expressed
as a co-efcient of variation (CV) with 90% condence lim-
its. The CV represents the mean between-test typical error
expressed as a percentage while the 90% condence inter-
val shows the predicted range of CV values for 90% of the
population.
26
An a priori analysis was used to determine the required
sample size to sufciently power the study. Using the reactive
motor skills test used by Stepto et al.
27
, with a reduced effect
size of 0.45 (as our exercise protocol was less strenuous),
indicated we required a sample size of 41 at = 0.05 powered
at 80%. Post hoc analysis revealed the power of the current
study to be 99.9% with the sample size of 42 and effect size
of 0.99.
3. Results
The RMST showed strong test-retest reliability. The typ-
ical error of test performance time was 2.4% (1.93.4%;
90% CI) sprint time (2.9%CV, 2.34.1%; 90%CI), pass-
ing task time (3.5%CV, 2.85.0%; 90%CI) and reactive
agility time (2.3%CV, 1.83.3%; 90%CI). RMST was
less reliable for passing accuracy, skill and performance
indices (Supplementary table). All performance measures
taken during the RMST were changed after exercise,
except total time and passing accuracy. Mean sprint time
was slower after soccer-specic exercise (mean SD;
pre = 1.25 0.06 s vs. post = 1.29 0.06 s; ES (90%CI);
1.030 (1.021 to 1.039); p < 0.00001) as was reactive
agility time (pre = 1.82 0.08 s vs. post = 1.84 0.10 s;
1.015 (1.0041.026; p < 0.05). While passing time was
improved (pre = 4.06 0.38 s, post = 3.94 0.33 s; 0.973
(0.9610.985; p < 0.001) after the exercise protocol. Pass-
ing accuracy showed an improvement after the exercise
protocol (pre = 5.53 0.43 vs. post = 5.75 0.64; 1.036
(1.0031.070) (Table 2). Skill index (passing score/passing
time) also showed an improvement (pre = 1.38 0.15 vs.
post = 1.48 0.19; 1.065 (1.0291.101); p < 0.01) as did per-
formance index (passing score/total time) (pre = 0.78 0.08
vs. post = 0.82 0.10; 1.042 (1.0071.078); p < 0.05).
4. Discussion
Soccer-specic exercise was found to differentially affect
all skill performance measures within the RMST. Although
intermittent exercise affected all three sections of the RMST,
total time remained unchanged. Sprint time and RAT time
slowed but passing task time improved enough to eliminate
this decrement. Thus the total time measure may not detect
the true impact of interventions.
As expected, 5 m sprint performance declined after 45 min
of intermittent exercise. This is in line with declines in sprint-
ing and running performance seen during match-play
4,9,11
,
but contrasts with other studies using simulations of soc-
cer fatigue which found no decline in sprint performance.
8
This could be due to player tness levels and/or the exer-
cise protocols in those studies not sufciently simulating the
physiological demands of match-play.
Time taken to complete the passing test improved, while
passing accuracy showed a tendency to improve after exer-
cise. This runs contrary to both the sprint and RAT times,
and previous research which has shown movement speed,
passing and kicking to be negatively affected by intense
exercise.
4,16,28
Rampinini et al.
4
found a 15% decline in
short passing skill after 45 min of match-play in junior
professionals, which resulted from a greater decline in
passing task accuracy not time. In contrast, this study
found improvements in both, indicating either a learning
effect (unlikely-supplementary gure) or an exercise induced
enhancement of skill task performance.
Research has demonstrated that match-related fatigue
inuences player skill performance either through ability to
get involved with the ball
7
and/or a player skill prociency
6
.
The current ndings are in agreement with studies that
have found no change in skill accuracy after exercise
5,21
and improvements after moderate intensity, short duration
exercise.
28,29
Improved skill performance after exercise is
somewhat counter-intuitive; the increased movement times
observed for sprint time and reactive agility time suggest that
the ability to move quickly through the passing test, which
also required acceleration and reactive abilities, would be
affected in a similar way. If this was the case, however, any
increase in movement time for the passing test was counter-
acted by a decrease in skill performance time, leaving overall
passing time improved after exercise. The present ndings
showing improvement in skill performance after 45 min of
high intensity intermittent exercise agree with previous work
using shorter duration high intensity exercise.
21,28
It remains
to be seen whether these ndings would be replicated after
90 min of exercise.
The allocation of attentional resources theory
30
provides a
possible explanation for improvements in skill performance.
According to the theory, peak performance occurs when suf-
cient cognitive resources are directed towards task-relevant
information and this occurs at optimum arousal levels, with
high arousal causing deterioration in performance. Royal
et al.
21
found water polo shooting accuracy was unchanged
by intense exercise and suggested that accuracy may have
become the predominant aim at the expense of other tech-
nical components. Similarly, it remains a possibility that
45 min of soccer-specic exercise induced sufcient arousal
and attentional focus to improve passing skill performance.
Because the intermittent exercise protocol induced a physi-
ological state similar to that experienced during match-play,
players may have been accustomed to performing skilfully
under these conditions.
A signicant decline in reactive agility time after soc-
cer specic intermittent exercise in soccer players was also
observed. Previous studies found decision making to be
W. Bullock et al. / Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport 15 (2012) 431436 435
positively affected by high intensity exercise
21
, the present
study observed the opposite, an effect that was not hypoth-
esized. Although the different exercise interventions and
skill tests used make comparisons tenuous, our study sup-
ports the nding that skill performance and decision making
are affected differently by exercise. The increase in RAT
time could have occurred because players decline in phys-
ical capacity (movement time) was overshadowing any
improvement in cognitive-perceptual skill that may have
been present. As we did not measure decision and move-
ment time components, we cannot say whether this was
occurring. Previous studies suggest that while decision time
makes up only a fraction of total RAT time compared
to movement time, its contribution to total RAT time is
signicant.
2,18
We utilised a shortened version of the LIST (45 min) to
simulate physiological demands of one half of soccer match
play which aligns with player performance decrements.
4,9,11
This exercise regimen did not fatigue players to exhaustion
or induce severe muscular fatigue and all players would com-
plete the same amount of work (based on tness) unlike match
play. Although signicant effects were seen in this study for
all performance measures except total time, the size of these
effects may be different after 90 mins of the protocol and war-
rants further investigation. The validity of the RMST could
not be empirically evaluated in this study due to the similar
playing level of participants. Future studies will be required
to determine the validity of the RMST by comparing the
performance of elite and non-elite soccer players.
This study established the reliability of the reactive motor
skills test (RMST) as a measure of soccer skill perfor-
mance specically for sprint and reactive agility components
of the test. The test-retest reliability of the soccer RMST,
specically its timed components, are considered strong as
they are all demonstrate a typical error <4%
6
and compares
favourably to that of the Stepto et al.
27
(2.7%). In addition,
our test had similar reliability to the LSPT (2.4%)
15
and other
reactive agility tests.
2,6
Finally, this study had a number of limitations. The skills
performance test included in the RMST which is based on cri-
terion outcomes reduce reliability and practical applications
6
of the test. We attempted to overcome this issue by utilising
the passing index to counteract the movement speed/accuracy
trade-off employed by players. The skills task of the RMST
may have rendered the total time of the test insensitive to exer-
cise (45 min) induced changes despite its reliability (2.4%).
Despite these limitations of the RMST this study provides
novel data on perceptual-cognitive performance of soccer
players when performing integrated tasks associated with
soccer match play.
5. Conclusion
Soccer-specic intermittent exercise decreased sprinting
and RAT performance, but improved short passing skill
performance, leaving overall RMST performance time
largely unchanged.
6. Practical implications
Physical, technical and perceptual-cognitive performance
can be assessed reliably in a single test design.
Soccer short passing ability improves after 45 min high-
intensity intermittent exercise
Reactive agility was negatively affected by 45 min of sim-
ulated soccer exercise.
RMST could be utilised in the eld setting to determine
perceptual-cognitive performance providing the testing
surface characteristics and player footwear were the same
between tests.
The RMST could be modied for other team sports by
changing the video footage and skill requirements.
Acknowledgements
This study was funded by Musashi (Performance Nutri-
tion, Nestle Australia) and the Australian Institute of Sport
Collaborative Research Grant scheme (#995147.R1). The
authors would like to thank Mr Ian Fairweather for inte-
grating the timing-gates with the video projection system
and developing an individualised software package for the
LIST protocol used in this study. Additional thanks goes to
Mr Fabio Serpiello for assisting in the design of the RMST,
Mr John Floros, and Mr Ramon Rodriguez-Anderson whom
helped with data collection, Prof Damian Farrow and Dr
Robert Aughey for critical review of the manuscript. Final
thanks to the coaches and players at Sports Education and
Development Australia and National Training Centre Pro-
gram Darebin.
Appendix A. Supplementary data
Supplementary data associated with this arti-
cle can be found, in the online version, at
doi:10.1016/j.jsams.2012.03.002.
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