Effects of reactive agility training on hitting accuracy under randomized ball feeds in primary school tennis players

Abstract

This study aimed to examine whether a 6-week tennis-specific reactive agility training program improved hitting accuracy under randomized ball feeds in primary school tennis players. Forty youth players aged 11–13 years (20 males, 20 females) from three primary schools in Benxi City, Liaoning Province, China, were randomly assigned to either an intervention group (n = 20) or a control group (n = 20), with allocation blocked by school. The intervention group completed a tennis-specific reactive agility program twice per week, replacing equivalent portions of regular school tennis practice and focusing on the RAG-5 Fan Drill along with randomized ball-feed hitting tasks; the control group continued its usual practice. Total weekly contact time was kept comparable between groups. Hitting accuracy under a 20-ball randomized-feed test (5 sets, 100 balls per session), reactive agility (RAG-5 Fan Drill), planned change of direction (t-test), and 11-m sprint time were assessed before and after the intervention. Ball-level hit/miss data were analyzed using generalized linear mixed models (GLMMs) with random intercepts for players nested in schools. Mean hitting accuracy increased from 78.5% to 89.5% in the intervention group and from 77.9% to 78.9% in the control group, with a significant Group × Time interaction (OR = 2.41, 95% CI 1.68–3.46, p < .001). RAG-5 time improved substantially in the intervention group, whereas changes in the t-test and sprint were small. Individual improvements in reactive agility were strongly associated with improvements in accuracy (r = −0.76, p < .001). These findings suggest that a short, tennis-specific reactive agility program may improve hitting accuracy under uncertainty in primary-school players, likely through enhanced perception–decision–action coupling.