Canalia, C. (Cesare) (2017) A new protocol to measure and evaluate “reactive” agility in infantry soldiers: a preliminary investigation. thesis, Human Movement Sciences.
Full text available on request.Abstract
Introduction: The traditional definition of agility has been described as the ability to rapidly and accurately change direction, speed, position and/or posture (planned agility), and refers to a closed skill action. Agility has been recently defined as a rapid whole-body movement with change of velocity or direction in response to a stimulus (reactive agility). By adopting this definition, agility can be conceived as an open skill action. Objectives: To develop a reactive agility run comprised of several operationally relevant tasks, and to determine whether substantial differences exist in terms of combat performance (defined as the time needed to complete a task) when comparing different clothing and/or equipment configurations in a reactive versus planned agility run. Methods: Twelve male soldiers participated in the study. Each soldier had to complete a reactive agility run consisting of four subtests: “agility” course, balance test, window obstacle, and reflex task with unexpected stimuli included. Soldiers also had to complete a planned agility run consisting of the same four subtests without unexpected stimuli. Two clothing/equipment configurations were used: with ballistic and OPS vest (WV) and with no vests (NV). Two trials with each of the two clothing/equipment configuration were performed by each soldier. Data were analyzed using a repeated measures ANOVA and multiple paired sample t-tests in order to interpret the main effects. Results: Combat performance is influenced by the clothing/equipment configuration adopted (except in the reactive agility condition of the balance test). Also, unexpected stimuli influence combat performance (no significant differences were observed in the window obstacle and in the reflex task). Moreover, the time difference between the WV and the NV configuration in the reactive agility run compared to the time difference between the WV and the NV configuration in the planned agility run did not vary. Conclusion: The present preliminary investigation highlights that combat performance is influenced by the clothing/equipment configuration adopted and by the type of agility under which soldiers were tested. A reactive agility run with unexpected stimuli included is more operationally relevant, because reflecting the actual demand of military contexts. There is the need to further develop and optimize the “agility” course, balance test, window obstacle, and reflex task, and to include new operational relevant tasks (e.g. shooting task).
| Item Type: | Thesis (UNSPECIFIED) |
|---|---|
| Supervisor name: | Koerhuis, C. and Otter, R. |
| Faculty: | Medical Sciences |
| Date Deposited: | 04 May 2022 09:50 |
| Last Modified: | 04 May 2022 09:50 |
| URI: | https://umcg.studenttheses.ub.rug.nl/id/eprint/3227 |
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