To identify athlete strengths and weaknesses, for both athletic performance and injury prevention To help athletes and coaches set short-term fitness training goals To evaluate an athlete’s progress, which helps fuel their motivation to improve To refine training load programming, with results serving as an objective basis for intensity (load) prescription To assess athletic talent,…
Testing can’t automatically produce better performing athletes and should not be used in isolation to make selection decisions Athlete performance testing is a tool, which if used correctly, can provide valuable information that is to be used, in combination with other information, to design training programs that will improve an athlete or a team’s performance.
At the beginning of certain phases of training At regular intervals during certain training periods For school-based athletes or groups, testing may be suitable at the beginning and/or end of school term periods
Force plates are instruments that measure the magnitude and timing of ground reaction forces (GRF). According to Newton’s third law of motion a GRF is the force exerted by the ground on a body in contact with it. Force plate testing allows coaches and athletes (individuals and teams) to obtain objective and detailed data about…
Force-velocity profiling assesses an athlete’s force and velocity production capabilities during dynamic tasks and is typically assessed via instrumented barbell exercises, jump tasks performed on a force plate or electronically timed linear sprints. Through force-velocity profiling, a coach can identify whether an athlete is force or velocity deficient for a given task. Based on an…
