Back to the Future - in support of a renewed emphasis on generic agility training within sports-specific developmental pathways

• Published in: Journal of sports sciences 2018-10, Vol.36 (19), p.2250-2255
• Main Authors: Liefeith, Andreas, Kiely, John, Collins, Dave, Richards, Jim
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult; Athletic Injuries - prevention & control; Athletic Injuries - rehabilitation; Athletic Performance - physiology; Cumulative Trauma Disorders - prevention & control; Cumulative Trauma Disorders - rehabilitation; Generic agility; Humans; injury; Motor ability; Motor Skills - physiology; Physical Conditioning, Human - methods; Physical Education and Training; Rehabilitation; Skills; Specialization; specific skills; transfer; Transfer learning
• ISSN: 0264-0414; 1466-447X
• DOI: 10.1080/02640414.2018.1449088

Perhaps as a consequence of increased specialism in training and support, the focus on engendering and maintaining agility as a generic quality has diminished within many contemporary sports performance programmes. Reflecting this, we outline a rationale suggesting that such a decreased focus represents an oversight which may be detrimental to maximising the potential of performers. We present an evidence-based argument that both generic and specific elements of agility performance should be consistently emphasised within long-term performance-training programmes. We contend that prematurely early specialisation in athlete development models can diminish focus on generic movement skill development with a subsequent detriment in adult performance. Especially when this is coupled with poor primary physical education and limited movement experiences. More speculatively, we propose that generic agility can play a role in operationalising movement development through facilitating skill transfer: thereby enabling the learning of new skills, reduce incidence of injury and facilitating re-learning of old skills during rehabilitation and Return-to-Play processes.