The Effects of Agility Ladders on Performance: A Systematic
     Review

José Afonso; Israel Teoldo da Costa; Miguel Camões; Ana Silva; Ricardo Franco Lima; André Milheiro; Alexandre Martins; Lorenzo Laporta; Fábio Yuzo Nakamura; Filipe Manuel Clemente

doi:10.1055/a-1157-9078

International Journal of Sports Medicine, Table of Contents

Int J Sports Med 2020; 41(11): 720-728
DOI: 10.1055/a-1157-9078

Review

The Effects of Agility Ladders on Performance: A Systematic Review

José Afonso

¹Centre for Research, Education, Innovation and Intervention in Sport, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal

,

Israel Teoldo da Costa

²NUPEF, NUPEF – Núcleo de Pesquisa e Estudos em Futebol, Universidade Federal de Viçosa, Viçosa, Minas Gerais, Brazil

,

Miguel Camões

³Escola Superior de Desporto e Lazer, Instituto Politécnico de Viana do Castelo, Viana do Castelo, Portugal

⁴The Research Centre in Sports Sciences, Health Sciences and Human Development (CIDESD), Vila Real 5001-801, Portugal

,

Ana Silva

³Escola Superior de Desporto e Lazer, Instituto Politécnico de Viana do Castelo, Viana do Castelo, Portugal

⁴The Research Centre in Sports Sciences, Health Sciences and Human Development (CIDESD), Vila Real 5001-801, Portugal

⁵N2i, Polytechnic Institute of Maia, 4475-690 Maia, Portugal

,

Ricardo Franco Lima

³Escola Superior de Desporto e Lazer, Instituto Politécnico de Viana do Castelo, Viana do Castelo, Portugal

⁴The Research Centre in Sports Sciences, Health Sciences and Human Development (CIDESD), Vila Real 5001-801, Portugal

,

André Milheiro

⁶CIFI2D, Centre for Research, Education, Innovation and Intervention in Sport (CIFI2D), Faculty of Sport of the University of Porto (FADEUP), Porto, Portugal

,

Alexandre Martins

⁶CIFI2D, Centre for Research, Education, Innovation and Intervention in Sport (CIFI2D), Faculty of Sport of the University of Porto (FADEUP), Porto, Portugal

,

Lorenzo Laporta

⁷Universidade Regional Integrada do Alto Uruguai e das missões (Santiago/Brasil)

,

Fábio Yuzo Nakamura

⁸Departamento de Educação Física, Universidade Estadual de Londrina, Londrina, Brazil

,

Filipe Manuel Clemente

³Escola Superior de Desporto e Lazer, Instituto Politécnico de Viana do Castelo, Viana do Castelo, Portugal

› Author Affiliations

Abstract

The goal of this systematic review was to evaluate the effects of exercise programs using agility ladders and to assess the quality of available evidence. Search was conducted in October of 2019 using the following databases: Cochrane Library, PEDro, PubMed, Scopus and Web of Science. Study eligibility criteria included randomized trials or randomized controlled trials using agility ladders drills. Participants were healthy humans of any health status. The study appraisal and synthesis methods followed the revised Cochrane risk-of-bias tool for randomized trials (RoB 2) and a qualitative synthesis of the main results of each study were applied. Only five studies met our criteria, lasting between 4 and 8 weeks. Only two studies evaluated the effects of ladder drills on more than one dimension. Lack of description of the specific exercises that were used limits reproducibility of current studies. With one exception, the articles had low risk of bias for most domains. Despite the widespread popularity of agility ladder drills, research is scarce and problematic, with poorly described protocols and mostly unidimensional performance measures. Claims that agility ladders improve agility and other physical skills is premature, given the nature and quality of existing research.

Key words

systematic review - motor coordination - performance - agility ladders

Full Text

References

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