ENHANCING FOOTBALL PLAYER PERFORMANCE: COMPARATIVE EFFECTS OF REACTIVE AGILITY TRAINING AND CORE TRAINING ON SPEED AND AGILITY

Background: Football demands explosive speed and agility for offensive and defensive manoeuvres, yet the comparative effects of reactive agility training (RAT) versus core training remain underexplored in elite young players. Methods: This randomized controlled trial involved 30 male football players (18-25 years, >3 years of competitive experience at the state/national level) from Dr. M.G.R. Educational and Research Institute. Participants were randomized 1:1 to 8-week RAT (Group A, n=15) or core training (Group B, n=15) interventions (4 sessions/week, 30 min each). Primary outcomes were speed (30-metre sprint test, 30MST) and agility (Illinois Agility Test, IAT), assessed pre- and post-intervention using stopwatches and photocell timing. Data analysis used SPSS v24 with Shapiro-Wilk normality testing, paired t-tests (within-group), and independent t-tests (between-group; p