Discriminative Validity of Field-Based Propulsion and Sprint Tests in Elite Wheelchair Court Athletes with Different Functional Profiles

Purpose: Field-based tests are widely used to assess propulsion and sprint performance in wheelchair athletes; however, their ability to discriminate between functional performance profiles associated with different impairment characteristics remains insufficiently explored. This study evaluated the discriminative capacity of propulsion, sprint, and manoeuvrability tests in elite wheelchair court athletes. Methods: Nineteen male elite athletes (ten wheelchair basketball, nine wheelchair rugby) performed the initial maximum push-rim propulsion (IMPRP), a 12 m linear sprint (3, 5, and 12 m splits), and a wheelchair manoeuvrability test (3L3R). Test reliability was assessed using intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC). Results: Test reliability was high across all assessments (ICC ≥ 0.82). The higher functional performance profile group demonstrated substantially greater IMPRP mechanical outputs, including mean velocity (ES = 2.69), maximum velocity (ES = 3.29), mean power (ES = 1.75), and maximum power (ES = 2.09) (all p < 0.001). Sprint performance also showed large between-group differences at 5 m (ES = 1.53) and 12 m (ES = 1.68) (p < 0.001), whereas manoeuvrability differences were moderate (ES = 0.62; p = 0.043). Conclusions: IMPRP and short-distance sprint tests appeared sensitive to differences between ecologically distinct wheelchair court sport athletes characterised by different real-world functional performance profiles. These field-based assessments may be useful for performance monitoring and may complement ecologically distinct athlete groups in wheelchair court sports.