Velocidade de reação podal e agilidade motora em futebolistas com paralisia cerebral

Abstract

The speed of reaction and motor agility are important factors in the course of any sport, and the more developed these two abilities are, the better the athlete's performance. As these abilities are most affected in what corresponds to cerebral palsy (CP), its stimulation is fundamental in order to make the individual more proficient in his athletic performance and, even more, independent of the daily obstacles. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of a training program on the speed of foot reaction and motor agility of 11 male soccer players from 7, between 19 and 38 years (26.36 ± 5.66), with PC, inserted in 4 classes, being C5, C6, C7 and C8. The Nelson test was used to evaluate the speed of the foot reaction, and the modified Shuttle Run test evaluated the motor agility. Two data collections were performed, with a time interval of 4 months between them. During this 4 -month period, the athletes performed 3 training sessions per week, with 1 hour and 30 minutes each. Results analysis included descriptive statistics (mean, standard deviation), use of the Wilcoxon test for the comparison between moments for the total sample and for classes and the Mann-Whitney test between groups of different pedal preference, at each moment of evaluation. Results: in the foot reaction velocity, there were significant improvements in the total sample and, when we separated the athletes by their classes, in the classes C5 and C7, to the right foot of the athletes. However, there were no significant improvements when comparing the groups of preference among the evaluations. In motor agility, no significant changes were observed after four months of training. We conclude that the training of the speed of the foot reaction caused significant modifications enabling athletes to respond more quickly to the decision making requirements of this sport, especially at the right foot level.