Indoor vs. Outdoor: Do Rugby Drills Work the Same?

Rugby league players often train on both outdoor and indoor surfaces. But do these different surfaces affect their performance? A recent study looked into this by testing young rugby players on both types of fields.

Study Overview

The study focused on 15 male rugby players around 17 years old. They did three types of tests:

• A 20-meter sprint (with splits at 10 meters)
• An agility test called the 505-Agility Test
• A fitness test known as the Multistage Fitness Test (MSFT)

These tests were done weekly for three weeks on an indoor surface.

Results on Indoor Surfaces

The results showed that most tests were reliable on the indoor surface:

• The sprint tests and the fitness test had good consistency.
• The agility test had poor reliability, meaning the results varied more on the indoor surface.

Comparison Between Indoor and Outdoor Surfaces

When comparing indoor and outdoor surfaces, the differences were small and not significant:

• The sprint tests, agility test, and fitness test showed only trivial differences between the two surfaces.
• This suggests that practitioners can use results from either surface to gauge player performance.

Key Takeaways

• For sprinting and overall fitness, both surfaces seem to give similar results.
• For agility tests, indoor surfaces might not be as reliable.
• Practitioners can use indoor surfaces for most run-based tests, but should be cautious with agility tests.

Conclusion

If you're training rugby players, you can use indoor surfaces for most run-based tests. However, be cautious with agility tests, as they might not be as reliable indoors.