Background: Soccer players, independent of positions, perform high-intensity movements such as agility for short periods and have longer periods of low-intensity and rest during a soccer game. Agility is considered to be dependent on perceptional and decision-making factors and physical factors related to changes in directions. Most research has displayed no differences in different preplanned agility test within playing positions. However, no studies have been done on reactive agility within different positions on the soccer field. Aim: The purpose of the study was to compare if soccer players ́ reactive – and preplanned agility performance differs between their positions in the team. The study will also examine the level of correlation between results from reactive agility and preplanned agility. Methods: Thirty male soccer players, 17-19 years old, were tested in reactive agility and preplanned agility. The subjects were divided into three groups depending on their playing position, including defenders (n=10), midfielders (n=10) and forwards (n=10). Mean scores for both agility tests were analyzed with a one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and the criterion level for significance was set at 5 % (p ≤ 0.05). Correlations were performed to study the relationship between reactive agility and preplanned agility. Following limits were used to determine the strength of the value of Pearson correlation; r=.10 to .29 small, r=.30 to .49 medium, r=.50 to 1.0 large. Results: No statistical significant differences between defenders, midfielders and forwards in neither reactive agility (p=0.624) or preplanned agility (p=0.481) were perceived. There was a small correlation (r=0.24) between all studied results from the reactive – and preplanned agility test. When positions were correlated within the two test, the highest correlation between reactive agility and preplanned agility was found in midfielders with a medium correlation (r=0.47) while small correlations appeared within defenders (r=0.28) and forwards (r=-0.11). Conclusions: The findings of this thesis showed no statistical significant differences between playing positions in reactive agility nor in preplanned agility. The impact of the soccer players’ integration with different soccer coaches could be an explanation to the reactive agility results where some coaches may focus on developing perceptual skills more than other coaches. The absence of differences in preplanned agility may suggest that the physical abilities needed to perform the Zig-Zag test did not differ among defenders, midfielders or forwards. It can also be suggested that reactive agility and preplanned agility are two independent variables who do not share characteristics. Future research should focus on incorporating a more valid reactive agility test for soccer players and study larger samples who are specialized in their positions.

Aim The purpose of this study is to investigate whether plyometric training improves ice hockey goalies' change of direction (COD) at junior level on-ice. The study is based on the following question: Does the COD of ice hockey goalies improve after an eight-week training intervention consisting of plyometric training?Null hypothesis: Plyometric training does not improve COD for junior ice hockey goaltenders. Method The questions in the study were by conducting a training study with male ice hockey goalies (n=13) at the junior level (born 2004-2008). Based on randomization, the participants in the study were be divided into two groups, a training group (n-7) and a control group (n-6). Before and after the training intervention, an on-ice test will be carried out by all participants. After that, the intervention group will perform plyometric training, twice per week during an eight-week period. The effect of the training intervention will be evaluated by comparing the groups' results (before and after the intervention) to investigate whether there are differences between the intervention and control groups.  Result The results showed that the training group's mean value (3.82 seconds) improved more than the control group's mean value (4.03 seconds), however, the difference between the groups was not statistically significant (p=0.05), thus the null hypothesis is retained in the study. The results show that there is a tendency for improvement (p=0.082), thus a low assumption of the null hypothesis. The significance level was set at p <0.05 and the tendency level values were set at 0.05<p<0.1. Conclusion There was a tendency towards improvement in COD for the training group, however, the differences between the training group and the control group were not significant at post-test. The results show that plyometric training tends to have a positive effect on COD, which can be used as a framework for players and coaches as well as useful as a basis for future training planning for ice hockey goalies at junior level. / Syfte Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka om plyometrisk träning förbättra rishockeymålvakters change of direction (COD) på juniornivå on-ice. Studien utgår ifrånföljande frågeställning: Förbättras ishockeymålvakters COD efter en åtta veckorsträningsintervention bestående av plyometrisk träning? Nollhypotes; Plyometrisk träning förbättrar inte COD för ishockeymålvakter på juniornivå. Metod Frågeställningarna i studien besvarades genom att en träningsstudie genomfördes med manliga ishockeymålvakter (n=13) på juniornivå (födda 2004–2008). Utifrån randomiseringkommer deltagarna i studien delas in i två grupper, en träningsgrupp (n-7) och en kontrollgrupp (n-6). Innan och efter träningsinterventionen kommer ett on-ice test genomförasav samtliga deltagare. Därefter kommer träningsgruppen genomföra plyometrisk träning, två gånger per vecka under en åttaveckorsperiod. Effekten av träningsinterventionen kommer attutvärderas genom att jämföra gruppernas resultat (före och efter interventionen) för att undersöka eventuella skillnader mellan tränings-, och kontrollgruppen. Resultat Resultaten visade att träningsgruppens medelvärde (3,82 sekunder) förbättrades mer än kontrollgruppens medelvärde (4,03 sekunder), dock var skillnaden mellan grupperna inte statistisk signifikant (p=0,05). Resultaten visar att det finns tendens till förbättring (p=0,082),d ärmed ett lågt antagande om nollhypotesen. Signifikants nivån sattes till p <0,05 och värdenaför tendensnivån sattes till 0,05<p <0,1. Slutsats Det fanns tendens till förbättring av COD för träningsgruppen, dock var skillnaderna mellanträningsgruppen och kontrollgruppen inte statistiskt signifikanta vid eftertestet. Resultatenvisar att plyometrisk träning har tendens till positiv påverkan på COD, vilket kan användassom ett ramverk för spelare och tränare samt vara användbara som grund i framtida träningsplanering för ishockeymålvakter på juniornivå.