Agility performance in team sports: The role of cognitive demands and motor execution in response time tests

The role of cognitive factors and motor execution in agility actions in team sports is often discussed for differentiating players. However, the underlying mechanisms remain largely unknown. This study aims to investigate the role of cognitive and physical factors in agility-like response time tests by using general stimuli, and how these influence expertise differences in female team sport players. A total of n = 23 higher-level (2 ^nd -4 ^th league, age: 23.80 ± 2.95 years) and n = 22 lower-level (7 ^th /8 ^th league, age: 28.80 ± 7.60 years) female team handball players performed agility-like response time tests under simple and complex conditions on the SpeedCourt ^® . Additionally, jump height, five-second tapping and reaction time on the Eriksen-Flanker-Task were assessed. The influence of test complexity and performance level was analyzed using a 2 × 2 MANOVA. Correlation analyses were performed. Reaction and movement time in the agility-like response time tests increased significantly with test complexity ( p  < 0.001). Only movement time differentiated between higher- and lower-level players, with higher-level players demonstrating significantly shorter movement times. Faster movement times correlated moderately with jump height (r = −0.48, r ²  = 0.24, p  < 0.01). Domain-general cognitive measures were not associated with agility-like response time test performance ( p  > 0.05). Physical factors, as indicated by movement time, contribute to differentiating female team sport players in agility-like response time tests using general stimuli. Agility testing and training should include sport-specific stimuli and decision-making demands to better target cognitive-perceptual skills relevant to agility performance in team sports.