Optimizing Agility Training in Team Sport Players--The Role of Perception-Action Coupling: A Systematic Review with Multi-Level Meta-Analysis.
Agility, characterized by rapid whole-body movement in response to external stimuli, is a key performance determinant in team sports owing to its reliance on perception-action coupling. Despite its importance, existing evidence on training effects is disproportionately focused on change-of-direction...
| Published in: | Journal of Sports Science & Medicine Vol. 25; no. 1; pp. 84 - 112 |
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| Main Authors: | , , |
| Format: | equations & formulas research systematic review tables/charts Journal Article |
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Hakan Gur, Journal of Sports Science & Medicine
Mar2026
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| Online Access: | View this record in EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ccm&AN=191636985&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: ccm uiTerm: 191636985 longDbName: CINAHL Complete uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: dissinfo: jinfo: jid: 13032968 FYN jtl: Journal of Sports Science & Medicine issn: 13032968 maglogo: N pubinfo: dt: Mar2026 vid: 25 iid: 1 pid: 26030 pub: Hakan Gur, Journal of Sports Science & Medicine artinfo: ui: 191636985 191636985 191636985 10.52082/jssm.2026.84 191636985 ppf: 84 ppct: 28 formats: fmt: @attributes: type: P tig: atl: Optimizing Agility Training in Team Sport Players--The Role of Perception-Action Coupling: A Systematic Review with Multi-Level Meta-Analysis. aug: au: Zhao, Zhiwei Liu, Yuhang Xu, Kai affil: School of Physical Education and Sports, Central China Normal University, Wuhan, China sug: subj: Agility Team Sports Athletes Psychosocial Factors Athletic Performance Athletic Training Programs Human Systematic Review Meta Analysis PubMed Athletes, Male Athletes, Female Descriptive Statistics Checklists Soccer Basketball Child Adolescence Adult Data Analysis Software Child: 6-12 years Adolescent: 13-18 years Adult: 19-44 years ab: Agility, characterized by rapid whole-body movement in response to external stimuli, is a key performance determinant in team sports owing to its reliance on perception-action coupling. Despite its importance, existing evidence on training effects is disproportionately focused on change-of-direction ability, overlooking the perceptual-cognitive demands of true agility. This systematic review therefore sought to quantify the effects of agility-specific training, examine moderators and establish dose-response model in team-sport players, while accounting for perception-action coupling. Following PRISMA 2020 guidelines, systematic searches were conducted in Web of Science, Scopus and PubMed for peer-reviewed English-language studies. Risk of bias was appraised using a modified Cochrane Collaboration's tool and study quality was evaluated via a tailored PEDro scale. Effect size (ES) was calculated using Hedge's g, and dependencies among multiple ESs within studies were addressed through three-level meta-analysis. Subgroup analyses and both linear and nonlinear meta-regressions were performed to examine potential moderators and establish dose-response models. Twenty-eight studies met the inclusion criteria, of which 26 contributed 53 ESs to quantitative analyses. Agility training produced a large improvement in reactive agility test (RAT) performance (ES = 0.65, p < 0.01), a moderate improvement in pre-planned agility test (PAT) performance (ES = 0.55, p < 0.01), and a non-significant moderate effect in reaction test (RT) outcomes (ES = 0.52, p > 0.05). Training effects were moderated by participants' characteristics, with junior athletes (ES = 0.77, p < 0.05) and national level athletes (ES = 0.80, p < 0.05) demonstrating greater responses. However, female and mix-gender samples were un-derrepresented, and the evidence base was dominated by studies in soccer and basketball. Dose-response modelling revealed a curvilinear relationship between training duration and RAT (QM = 11.64, p < 0.01), peaking at 7-8 weeks and a positive linear association between training frequency and RAT (β = 0.172, p < 0.01). No significant relationship was observed between session time and RAT (p > 0.05), although most positive ESs clustered around 20-25 minutes per training session. Agility training exerts a large overall effect on RAT performance in team-sport players, with outcomes moderated by age and training status. Interventions of 7 - 8 weeks delivered at higher frequency (> 3 times/week) with 20 - 25 minutes session duration are frequently associated with favorable adaptions. These recommendations, however, should be interpreted cautiously given the moderate-to-low certainty of evidence, high within-study variability, dominance of soccer and basketball samples and potential risk of publication bias. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: equations & formulas meta analysis research systematic review tables/charts Journal Article ougenre: Article language: English refInfo: holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
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