2.8. Three-Cone Drill

The three-cone drill was marked out as shown in Figure 2 [12,18,20], and has also been found to be reliable in male and female team sport athletes (ICC = 0.94; CV = 1.96%) [48]. One timing gate (Smartspeed, Fusion Sports, Sumner Park, Australia) was used for this test. Subjects started in a three-point stance 50 cm behind the start line (Marker 1), so as to be able to trigger the gate. After starting, subjects ran to Marker 2, bent down and touched the ground, before running back to Marker 1 and touching the ground again. The subject then ran back to Marker 2 and around the outside of it, weaved inside Marker 3, around the outside of Markers 3 and 2 before finishing at Marker 1. The subject ran forward throughout the test while altering their running direction. Observers were positioned at each marker to ensure subjects completed the requirements of the three-cone drill. If they did not, the trial was disregarded and reattempted. Time was recorded from when the subject broke the gate the first time, until they returned through the gate from the last section of the test. Two trials were completed. In the first trial, subjects turned to the right from Markers 2 to 3. In the second trial, subjects turned to the left [12,18,20]. The fastest time from the two trials was used for analysis, and time for each trial was recorded to the nearest 0.001 s.

The three-cone drill featuring a right-hand turn. m = meters.