Illinois Agility Test

What is the Illinois Agility Test?

Thewas developed at the University of Illinois in the 1950s, and it is one of the most widely used fitness assessments to measure a person’s agility and speed, especially when it comes to changing directions.

If you were ever part of a sports team in school or are just fond of sports, then you are likely to at least be (somewhat familiar) with this because it is a common exercise included in training programs.

The Illinois Agility Test involves using cones (eight cones, usually). These cones are set on a flat surface and are positioned in a straight line. The cones are spread apart from each other, usually several meters apart. Four of these cones will be placed laterally on each side of the central line.

The test taker will run through this cone course as soon as the conductor blows the whistle, and it ends when the test taker reaches the final cone/crosses the finish line. Conductors will record the time it took for test takers to finish the course. The time it takes them to finish the course will indicate their current agility level.

How to conduct the Illinois Agility Test

Before you conduct the Illinois Agility Test, you will have to prepare a few things, specifically eight cones, a whistle, and a stopwatch!

First, you must arrange the cones. Four of these cones should be arranged in a straight line by 10 meters. The cones must be at least 3.3 meters apart from each other. As for the other four cones, they are to be placed laterally on each side of the central line. Laterally, they should be 5 to 6 meters apart from each other, and just like the straight line, cones on each end vertically should be 10 meters apart from each other. To get a better picture of this, please refer to our picture in the sample shown later in this guide.

Once you have the cones set up, the next thing that you need to do is to explain and demonstrate what the test taker needs to do:

• They must first lie down in a prone position by the first cone (the starting cone).
• As soon as you blow the whistle, they have to run to the second cone, which should be 10 meters away in a straight line.
• Once they reach the second cone, they will have to make a turn and run to the third cone.
• Once they arrive at the third cone, they have to weave around the third, fourth, fifth, and sixth cones, then weave around the fifth, fourth, and third cones. The order is strict.
• Once they are back at the third cone, they’re going to run to the seventh cone, then turn around and run to the eighth cone (the finish line).

When you’re done demonstrating it, you can start the test whenever the test taker is ready. They will start as soon as you blow your whistle, and the test ends when they reach the final cone.

Make sure to activate your stopwatch the moment you blow your whistle and deactivate it when the test taker crosses the finish line.

Also, it’s recommended that you conduct at least two trials.

How to score the Illinois Agility Test

Scoring the Illinois Agility Test is easy because it doesn’t require calculating anything. All you need to do is record the time a test taker took to accomplish the test. The record time they have will be the one that determines what their level of agility is!

To help you out, here’s a table that you can refer to so that you know what level the test taker is at:

If you decided to have them do multiple trials, you just need to calculate the average.

When is the best time to conduct the Illinois Agility Test?

As mentioned earlier, the Illinois Agility Test is often used as part of the training programs for athletes and sports teams, especially for those playing basketball, soccer, and football, where agility and quick changes in direction are essential.

In the context of sports, it is also included in pre-season and mid-season testing. This is so coaches and trainers can properly gauge their athletes to determine what their training program should be or what should be tweaked to maintain fitness while at the same time ensuring that they don’t get injured mid-season before any games.

This test is also used to train the military and law enforcement. Agility and quick changes in direction are also important in those fields, especially when soldiers and police are deployed for action because being able to move fast and dodge means life and death.

The Illinois Agility Test can also be used in a clinical setting! In this context, it’s often included as part of rehabilitation to assess how far a patient has come after getting treated for an injury. It can be conducted regularly (how often is up to you and your care plan) to monitor for improvements. If an athlete is the one undergoing rehabilitation, it’s used to determine if they have reached an optimal level of agility to return to competition.

Who can conduct the Illinois Agility Test for their work?

The Illinois Agility Test is best conducted by professionals who understand how the test should be organized and done, meaning they have a comprehensive understanding of the steps needed to accomplish it and how to score it. These professionals will likely be Physical Therapists, Fitness Trainers, and Sports Team Coaches.

These professionals have the certifications and expertise needed to not just conduct the Illinois Agility Test, but also to observe the test takers in terms of their form while performing the test. This is so they can remind them of the proper or optimal form to prevent test takers from falling and getting injured while running.

Rehabilitation specialists can also use this as part of rehabilitation programs developed and implemented for certain patients. It’s a good way for them to properly monitor their patients’ respective recovery progress as well as to help them get back to their former agility level or an optimal level, especially if the patients are athletes.

For those thinking of including the Illinois Agility Test as part of their work, one thing to note is that this test is not suitable for everyone. Test takers should be relatively healthy (somewhat healthy is okay since the test has designations for those with poor agility). If a person has joint or muscle problems, they are at risk of getting injured while partaking in this activity, so it’s best to get medical clearance before taking the test.

What are the benefits of the Illinois Agility Test?

It can be used as a recruitment screen.

In the context of the military, law enforcement, or sports try-outs, the Illinois Agility Test can be included as part of the series of tests that will be used to determine if a person is fit to be in the army, a police squad, or the varsity/professional sports team based on the level of agility that the conductor requires.

This test is not influenced by subjective factors and will be based on a person’s speed, something that can be observed and scored objectively since a stopwatch will be used to check how fast they can run and change directions.

It’s a good way to track an individual’s progress over time.

Conductors can use the Illinois Agility Test to set agility benchmarks for their teams and can be used to track each member of their team in terms of their training progress. Are they maintaining their agility level? Are they getting faster? Or are they getting slower? These are questions that can be answered by conducting the test on a routine basis.

Speaking of tracking an individual’s progress, the conductor doesn’t have to be the only one tracking it. Even the person taking the test can use it to monitor themselves. The test can be used to set personal goals, motivate clients to achieve them, and improve as much as they can every time they take this test.

It’s a good injury rehabilitation exercise.

Suppose a person with an injury in their lower extremities is on the road to recovery, and they’re at the point where they can attempt physical exercises. In that case, you can conduct the Illinois Agility Test as part of the rehabilitation exercises of your program. Just don’t be surprised if they’re getting scores within the Poor range. The important thing in this context is that they are doing it and improving during subsequent iterations of the test.

If the patient being rehabilitated happens to be an athlete, the test can help coaches and trainers determine if they are fit to return to the active sports roster and/or competitions.