Agility

Material to exercise the balance agility for children

Agility or nimbleness is the ability to change the body's position efficiently, and requires the integration of isolated movement skills using a combination of balance, coordination, speed, reflexes, strength, and endurance. Agility is the ability to change the direction of the body in an efficient and effective manner and to achieve this requires a combination of

• balance – the ability to maintain equilibrium when stationary or moving (i.e. not to fall over) through the coordinated actions of our sensory functions (eyes, ears and the proprioceptive organs in our joints);
• static balance – the ability to retain the centre of mass above the base of support in a stationary position;
• dynamic balance – the ability to maintain balance with body movement;
• speed - the ability to move all or part of the body quickly;
• strength - the ability of a muscle or muscle group to overcome a resistance; and lastly,
• coordination – the ability to control the movement of the body in co-operation with the body's sensory functions (e.g., in catching a ball [ball, hand, and eye coordination]).

In sports, agility is often defined in terms of an individual sport, due to it being an integration of many components each used differently (specific to all of sorts of different sports). Sheppard and Young (2006) defined agility as a "rapid whole body movement with change of velocity or direction in response to a stimulus".

Agility is also an important attribute in many role playing games, both computer games and pen-and-paper or tabletop games such as Dungeons & Dragons. Agility may affect the character's ability to evade an enemy's attack or land their own, move more quickly, navigate uneven terrain, or engage in stealthy activities such as lockpicking or pickpocketing.

See also

• Illinois agility test
• Agility drill

References