Evaluation of change-of-direction movements in young rugby players.

The evaluation of change-of-direction (COD) performance is strongly focused on the time spent to perform the test trials, while much less is known about the technical execution adopted during the COD movements. Thus, the purposes of this study were to evaluate (1) the relationship between straight- and COD-sprint tests and (2) the technical execution of COD movements in relation to different age categories of young rugby players. Young rugby players (N = 157, age range 8-19 y) completed a test battery composed of a 15-m straight-sprint test (15SS) and a 15-m sprint test performed with 2 changes of direction (15COD).

Agility assessment in female futsal and soccer players.

Unlabelled: Agility is the player's capability to perform rapid whole-body movement with change of velocity or direction in response to a stimulus. The aims of this study were as follows: 1) to assess the reliability of a reactive visual stimuli agility field test (RVS-T); and 2) to evaluate differences in RVS-T and planned (PVS-T) agility performances between female soccer and futsal players.

Material And Methods: Sixty-six female players belonging to Italian teams of regional level were recruited to the study.

Effectiveness of active versus passive recovery strategies after futsal games.

This study aimed to investigate the effects of immediate postgame recovery interventions (seated rest, supine electrostimulation, low-intensity land exercises, and water exercises) on anaerobic performance (countermovement jump [CMJ], bounce jumping, 10-m sprint), hormones (salivary cortisol, urinary catecholamines), and subjective ratings (rate of perceived exertion [RPE], leg muscle pain, Questionnaire of Recovery Stress for Athletes [RestQ Sport], 10-point Likert scale), and hours of sleep of futsal players. Heart rate (HR), blood lactate, and RPE were used to evaluate the intensity of 4 futsal games in 10 players using a crossover design (P < 0.05), randomly allocating athletes to 1 of the 4 recovery interventions at the end of each game.