An agility test to measure performance in Para ice hockey Test presentation and test-retest reliability

摘要

Para ice hockey is a Paralympic discipline in which athletes with a physical impairment at the lower part of the body play sitting on a sledge. To take part in the competitions, athletes have to meet the minimum disability criteria. In recent years, the International Paralympic Committee has promoted the necessity to move towards evidence-based assessment of the impact of the impairment on performances. In Para ice hockey, performance is related to the ability of making sprint and to the maneuverability in curves and in handling the puck. A new agility test to measure athletes’ performance in terms of taking curves is here proposed and assess for its intraday reliability. Two acquisitions were done in order to collect respectively left and right curves. Six athletes performed three repetitions for each acquisition (left and right), for a total of six trials. The time required to complete the test (execution time) was collected for each trial. In addition, blade angle and trunk angle were calculated. Blade angle is the inclination of the blade with respect to the horizontal; whereas trunk angle is the inclination of the trunk with respect to the horizontal. The intraclass correlation coefficient, the absolute and percent standard error of measurement, and the mean difference were calculated between the three repetitions for both left and right side, for all variables. For kinematic and temporal variables, results showed high value of intraclass correlation coefficient (>0.82), low value of standard error of measurement (<4.7%), and low value of mean difference (<1.75° and 0.18s) for both left and right curves. A difference (p<0.01) was found between left and right curves for the kinematic variables; whereas execution time did not show any difference between sides. Finally, the first curve was different (p<0.01) compared to the others in both blade angle and trunk angle for left and right curves. In conclusion, because of the low within-subject variation, this agility test may be considered sport-specific measures of performance for evidence-based classification. In addition, it can be used by coaches to make personalized training.