Test-retest reliability of the 300-yard Shuttle Run Test

Abstract: Background: Several field-based team sports contain repeated, maximal effort sprints with varying rest lengths in between. This puts high demands on athletes’ metabolic and neuromuscular systems. Testing the anaerobic capacity of athletes is essential to improve and evaluate the progression. One test being utilised for assessing anaerobic capacity is the 300-yard shuttle run test. The test is field-based with stopwatches as the sole equipment. However, the test has not been properly tested for reliability.   Aim: The aim of this bachelor thesis was therefore to investigate the reliability of the 300-yard shuttle run test. Methods: The study was performed with a test-retest method and included a familiarisation meeting, test session and retest session.  Test subjects performed the 300-yard shuttle run test at two different occasions with seven or fourteen days in between. The intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) and 95% confidence interval (CI) was utilised to quantify the reliability. An ICC>0.8 was considered acceptable. Results: 17 American football players participated in the study (median age 20, min. =18, max. =38 y; median weight 83, min. =67, max. =133 kg; median height 184, min. =169, max. =194 cm). The ICC for the test-retest was 0.97 (95% CI  0.91-0.99). Conclusion: Based on the results of this study 300-yard shuttle test is proposed as a test providing reliable results.