Measuring Up: How Good Are Your Athletes, Really?

I have coached for years and played for even more. In all of these situations, there was no testing/measurement/assessment. The closest thing was a "cardio test" that was no more complicated than running laps around the soccer field for 75 minutes. When I introduced it, I was taken aback by the response. The parents of the boys were excited- their kids had never been tested before. The boys themselves were curious- and buoyed by the opportunity to compete against each other. Fellow coaches thought it was a novel idea. Just don't do it before the season so we don't lose time to work on drills!

I believe that results come from focused on attention on player development. Testing is second nature. How else do you know if you are better than last season? The Win-Loss column tells the truth, but it's only a fraction of the story. In preparation for this year's World Cup, Spain beat Haiti 10-0. They were humiliated when the finals came. Good result, but hardly indicative of any progress the team had made since winning the last tournament, nor indeed what they would be able to do in the future.

Once more, every coach should get their hands on Easy Strength by Dan John and Pavel Tsatsouline. More quotes from them (italicized).

Until you squat double bodyweight, rock bottom in a “no-no-no” fashion and put up same league numbers in a few other key lifts, you should have no fear. Strength will not make you slow. Just the opposite. European research and in-the-trenches experience on both sides of the pond show that there is no simpler means to drive a kid’s vertical jump up to the border of respectable than pushing up his squat poundage.
Given the value of a vertical jump testas an indicator for soccer players, it is vital to squat to the level that Pavel and Dan suggest. Although not a strict vertical jump, those players we describe as having great aerial ability embrace this concept when they jump for headers. The flexion and extension of the hip in the movement are also helpful in developing speed. More on the SVJ coming up!

In my article, How To Make Yourself Indispensable, I discussed the value of knowing your strength every component of athletic performance has a compliment that, if developed, would increase performance. Likewise, in You are Ruled By Your Weaknesses, I pointed out that working on your strengths is good, but developing areas of weaknesses is even better. These are two sides of the same coin. Here's what Dan and Pavel have to say on that.

Discussing your strong points may seem obvious, but it is well worth the time...This, of course, leads us to the more elusive issue: what are your weaknesses. Like Inspector Clouseau might say: “There are ‘clews’ here.” Success and failure tend to leave tracks, clues, and it is possible to sort through them.

Cleau/Clew/Clue Number 1 What do you hate? You could also skip a component of training, or you might ignore a part of a game or sport that just gets under your nerves. There you go: There is a hint here. You have taught yourself to ignore something rather easily, because you hate it. A good coach will insist that this is what you focus on! There is a rule here that shouldn’t be missed: This weakness must be within the parameters of your sport or focus.

Cleau/Clew/Clue Number 2 If you are lucky, an honest, skilled observer will be able to quickly point out your technical and training weaknesses. There is often nothing better than “fresh eyes” to save you literally months of work in the wrong direction....So, how do you find these skilled observers? For many, a camp situation is often best, especially at a place that might not follow the same exact method that you are currently doing. A multi-day camp setting, with several sessions a day and many sets of fresh eyes, will help most people. Otherwise, clinics and workshops and even a private session or two might be helpful. Even your competitors might be able to give you insight into what glaring weaknesses you may not be seeing.

Cleau/Clew/Clue Number 3 Assessments are both over- and underrated. Often, the key factor that’s missed is the assessment of the assessment...The standing vertical jump is a great predictor of quickness in all movements, not only leg explosiveness. According to Russian coaches, 70 to 80 centimeters (28 to 32 inches) for young men and 60 to 70 centimeters (24 to 28 inches) for young women predicts success in speed-strength sports.

Improvement in quadrant IV is all about assessing and addressing weaknesses. For the QIV athlete, the most crucial assessment is simply this: Is my primary goal (and my only goal) improving? At this elite level, no matter what is tried—no matter how far fetched—any improvement is RIGHT. A whole battery of assessment tools that all indicate improvement will be tossed out if the primary goal does not improve. Such is the life of the QIV athlete. (See Easy Strength for a breakdown of what the quadrants are).

For a power athlete, the tests listed below seem to have some validity. But before you even try the movements, I strongly recommend having a full FMS screen. My first screening only took about 10 minutes, but the review took half an hour.

Screening your mobility is essential, as those tiny compensations made for injuries really add up over time. If you are “locked down” here and compensate there, you are not only risking injury, but in addition, these compensations are inhibiting progress in your sport.

I owe much of my success in recent times as a personal trainer for soccer players, golfers and hockey players to the Functional Movement Systems team. The FMS is invaluable as an injury prediction model and using it, I have been able to manage the risk of injury for my athletes. Curiously, for those that were already injured when they came to me, the FMS was also my go-to for restoring function, and getting my athletes from post-rehab to better that they were before they got injured. This case study, and this one show how it use it to develop my training programs. Visit functionalmovement.com to learn what the FMS is and how to use it. Back to the power tests.


So, GET SCREENED, and then test yourself [your athletes] on the following:

• One-minute plank: If you can’t do this, stop worrying about anything else until you can!
• Push-ups in a minute: Note how many at the 30-second mark, too. Real power athletes will do a lot in the first 30 seconds but not so many in the next 30. If you can’t do 45 in a minute, well maybe you need to do some push-ups.
• Horizontal rows in a minute: Again, note the 30-second number. Consider 24 as a minimum, or half the number of push-ups for most people.
• A flexibility test: I like the simple overhead squat with a light stick. Again, the full FMS screen probably has more value.
• Bodyweight bench press for reps: Up to 15. Anything more is just overkill.
• Bodyweight back squats for reps: Up to 15. Again . . .
• Pull-ups: Should equal the number of bench press reps.
• A measured jump: I suggest the three jump. If you can do over 30 feet, you are in rare air. Strive for at least 21.
• A measured throw: Anything is fine—med ball, kettlebell, shot, or whatever.

Let me insert here that some of these are obviously technical and therefore require some expertise, spotting, etc. We are trying to prepare athletes to play and injury during this process is unacceptable. It defeats the entire purpose of training. Take care then that risk is minimized as much as possible during testing.


Added Bonus:

• How fast is Cristiano Ronaldo?
• How does he compare to a professional sprinter? 
• See what experts say about his running technique. Is yours the same?
• What is Ronaldo's vertical jump like?
• How does his mind work?
• And those feet- just how fast are they? Check out the really cool test that answers the questions about skill, technique and ball control. 

Enjoy!


Check out the following link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BeNLd68TTsM&feature=youtube_gdata_player