The Relationship of the Sit and Reach Test to Criterion Measures of Hamstring and Back Flexibility in Young Females

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Abstract
The purpose of the present investigation was to determine the relationships of the sit and reach test, a component of the American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance Health Related Fitness Test, 1980, with criterion measures of back and hamstring flexibility. Young females (N = 100) with a mean age of 14.08 years ± .825 were administered two trials of three tests. The measurements included the sit and reach test, passive hamstring flexibility using a Leighton Flexometer, and a test of back flexibility using a protocol suggested by Macrae and Wright in 1969. Test-retest reliability estimates exceeded .90 for all measurements. Results indicated that the sit and reach test had a moderate relationship (r = .64) with passive hamstring flexibility. The correlations between the sit and reach test and total back flexibility (r = .07), upper back flexibility (r = −.16), and lower back flexibility (r = .28) were low. These findings indicate the sit and reach test has moderate criterion-related validity when used as an assessment of hamstring flexibility, but appears not to provide a valid assessment of back and, in particular, low back flexibility which is one of the reasons it was included in the Health Related Fitness Test.

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