Waldron, MarkGray, AdrianWorsfold, Paul R.Twist, Craig2014-03-262014-03-262014-03-26Waldron, M., Gray, A., Worsfold, P., & Twist, C. (2016). The Reliability of functional movement screening and in-season changes in physical function and performance among elite Rugby League players. The Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research, 30(4), 910-918. doi:10.1519/jsc.00000000000002701064-801110.1519/JSC.0000000000000270http://hdl.handle.net/10034/314715This is the authors' PDF post-print of an article accepted for publication in the Journal of Strenght and Conditioning Research. The definitive version is available at http://journals.lww.com/nsca-jscrThis is not the published version. The final version of the article is available at doi 10.1519/JSC.0000000000000270Functional Movement Screening (FMS) comprises seven tests that assess fundamental movement characteristics of athletes. However, the reliability of the FMS protocol and its sensitivity to changes in physical performance has not been appropriately investigated. Accordingly, this study aimed to assess the real-time reliability of the FMS protocol and to establish changes in both FMS and tests of physical performance throughout a season. The reliability of the FMS components (12 in total) were assessed via a non-parametric statistical approach, based on two trials, separated by one week. Score on the FMS, strength (3 RM full squat, 1 RM bench press), running speed (10 & 40 m) and jump height of 12 elite male under-19 rugby league players was monitored at pre-, mid- and late-season periods. There was no bias found between trials for the FMS, with the majority of components reaching 100% ‘perfect agreement’. There were no effects of season stage on any of the FMS components; however, an improvement in every performance test was apparent between the pre- and both mid- and late-season periods. Our findings demonstrate that the FMS can be reliably administered to elite rugby league players but question its sensitivity to systematic changes in athletic performance.enArchived with thanks to Journal of Strength and Conditioning ResearchFunctional Movement Screeningrugby leaguetalentperformanceArticleJournal of Strength and Conditioning Research