RELIABILITY,SENSITIVITY, AND MINIMAL DETECTABLE CHANGE OF A NEW SPECIFIC CLIMBING TEST FOR ASSESSING ASYMMETRY IN REACH TECHNIQUE DRA ˇ ZEN ˇ CULAR, 1 WISSEM DHAHBI, 2,3 IVO KOLAK, 4 ANTONIO DELLO IACONO, 5,6 TEA BE ˇ SLIJA, 1 GUILLAUME LAFFAYE, 7,8 AND JOHNNY PADULO 1,9 1 University of Split, Faculty of Kinesiology, Split, Croatia; 2 Training Department, Qatar Police College, Doha, Qatar; 3 Tunisian Research Laboratory “Sport Performance Optimization,” National Center of Medicine and Science in Sports (CNMSS), Tunis, Tunisia; 4 Sport Climbing Club Citius-Altius-Fortius, Split, Croatia; 5 The Academic College at Wingate, Wingate Institute, Netanya, Israel; 6 Sport Science Department, Maccabi Tel Aviv FC, Tel Aviv, Israel; 7 CIAMS, University of Paris-Sud, University of Paris-Saclay, Cedex, France; 8 CIAMS, University of Orle´ans, Orle´ans, France; and 9 University eCampus, Novedrate, Italy ABSTRACT ˇ Cular, D, Dhahbi, W, Kolak, I, Iacono, AD, Be ˇ slija, T, Laffaye, G, and Padulo, J. Reliability, sensitivity, and minimal detectable change of a new specific climbing test for assessing asymme- try in reach technique. J Strength Cond Res XX(X): 000–000, 2018—The aims of this study were to establish intertrial and intersession reliability, sensitivity, and minimal detectable change of a new climbing test specifically for assessing asym- metry in reach technique (TEST). Twenty-four young climbers (16 males and 8 females) participated in this study. The pro- tocol consisted of performing, in counterbalanced random order, 3 tests; TEST, maximum handgrip force, and squat on the bench, in 2 sessions (with 3 trials for each session). TEST performance was expressed as: TEST performance for left hand (TESTL), TEST performance for right hand (TESTR), and absolute symmetry index (ASI). For intertrial and interses- sion reliability assessment, TESTL and TESTR showed excellent reliability (intraclass correlation coefficients ranged: 0.96–1.00; SEM% ranged: 0.07–1.23; and coefficient of var- iation—CV%: 1.28–2.53). In addition, SEMs were smaller than the smallest worthwhile change (SWC) values (SWC% = 1.07 and 0.99 for TESTL and TESTR, respectively), and the minimal detectable change (MDC 95 ) for both sides was small (,4.36 cm). An exception was ASI, which showed low absolute reli- ability and marginal sensitivity (SEM% = 15.13 . SWC% = 8.40 and CV% = 41.98). Pairwise test comparisons revealed no difference between sides. Considering the high reliability and the satisfactory sensitivity, TEST can be used to define individual asymmetry in the performance of the reach technique to the left or the right body side in climbers. However, inter- preting data using the ASI index requires caution because it had poor absolute reliability and marginal sensitivity. KEY WORDS asymmetry index, isometric strength, motor skills, performance, testing INTRODUCTION S port climbing is a highly demanding athletic activ- ity (34) that requires certain morphological char- acteristics (11) and a high level of mental control (i.e., control of thoughts and emotions, and main- taining a mood in accordance with the goals) (5). A success- ful climber must also possess technical skills and a high level of physical fitness, such as handgrip and finger grip strength (6,11). Shahram et al. (33) found that movements in sport climbing exert abundant pressure on the musculoskeletal system of the upper limbs because a large percentage of body mass is usually held by one hand, or one or a few fingers, during a climb action. Climbing also requires the skill to be efficient when grabbing a handhold or standing on a foothold at different angles, positions, and postures. By observing the technique performed by a climber athlete (22), the variability of the technique is a discriminative cri- terion for differentiating the climbers’ different level of exper- tise. In fact, the variability of the climbing technique is detected within and between subjects (10). Bilateral symmetry (12) denotes symmetry of the left and the right side of the body around the sagittal plane (4). There is proof that during the performance of bilateral movements (of either arms or legs), one side of the body is activated more in overcoming load, in comparison with the other side of the body—mostly targeting stabilization demands (25). Address correspondence to Dr. Wissem Dhahbi, wissem.dhahbi@gmail. com. 00(00)/1–8 Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research Ó 2018 National Strength and Conditioning Association VOLUME 00 | NUMBER 00 | MONTH 2018 | 1 Copyright ª 2018 National Strength and Conditioning Association