Correlation between Agility and Sprinting According to Student Age

Abstract

The purposes of the study were to assess sprinting and agility performance characteristics and to determine the rela- tionship between these two motor skills in elementary education students. Sprinting and agility performance were as- sessed in 176 children (88 boys and 88 girls) divided into three groups: Group 1 (G1, N=98; 48 boys and 50 girls), from the first year of elementary education; Group 2 (G2, N=38; 15 boys and 23 girls), from the second year of elementary edu- cation; Group 3 (G3, N=40; 25 boys and 15 girls), from the third year of elementary education. Significant differences (p<0.001) were found in agility ability among the groups and between G1-G3 and G2-G3 in the 5 and 15 m sprint. Re- garding gender of the students of the same age, significant differences (p<0.001) between boys and girls in group G1 and G2 were obtained in the 5 and 15 m sprint. The correlation between agility and acceleration was significant but moderate (0.3<r<0.7) in all groups (G1, G2, and G3), in most cases. When the gender factor was included, the results were hetero- geneous. Assessing this correlation according to age and gender produced heterogeneous results. For this reason, we think that both are independent qualities and that age and gender are two factors that influence the correlation results.