Fitness and Performance Testing in Sport - Benefits, Requirements and Results

This article or area is currently under construction and may only be partially complete. Please come back soon to see the finished work! (14/12/2022)

Original Editor - User Name

Top Contributors - Wanda van Niekerk and Jess Bell  

Why Fitness and Performance Testing in Sport?

• Assess athletic talent
• Identify physical abilities
• Identify areas in need of improvement
• Goal setting
• Progress evaluation
• Indicates effectiveness of decisions related to athletes (Fukuda text book)
• Provides quality data that can inform decision-making processes (Fukuda)

Key Terminology

• Test = a procedure for assessing ability in a particular endeavour
• Field test = a test used to assess ability that is performed away from the laboratory and does not require extensive training or expensive equipment
• Measurement = the process of collecting test data
• Evaluation = the process of analysing test results for the purpose of making decisions

Requirements of Testing

The concepts of validity and reliability are key to effective assessments. Consider the following principles in performance testing:

• Specificity
  • designed to assess and athlete's fitness for the activity in question
  • consider the general demands of the sport or activity
    • type of exercises/movements required during sport(e.g., running, jumping, kicking, throwing)
    • can movement or exercise be completed in a single movement (discrete), is there a series of connected movements (serial) or is there a repeated pattern of movements (cyclical)
    • discrete and serial movements are usually easy identifiable but may need to be broken up into phases to focus on specific demands
    • cyclical movements focus on the repetitive physical actions and this needs to be considered when selecting an appropriate test
  • consider athlete constraints
    • individual constraints such as:
      • athlete's physical and psychological state
      • training experience of athlete
      • current injury or previous injuries
      • availability of normative data for a specific athlete
    • task constraints
      • work to rest ratio (e.g., football (soccer) player with a work to rest ratio of 1:4, during the game the player's work consists out of short-duration sprints and sudden changes in direction, and the rest periods represents the time the player is walking or standing during the game.)
      • athlete playing position (think about American football, where linemen need to have strength to defend opposing linemen versus the wide receiver who needs to catch the ball in the air)
      • competition level may also influence test selection
    • environmental constraints
      • policies of sporting organisation
      • physical test environment (indoor vs outdoor, privacy, etc)
• Validity
  • the degree to which the test measures what it clams to measure
  • this is the most important characteristic of testing
  • Types of validity:
    • Construct validity
      • The ability of a test to represent the underlying construct (the theory developed to organise and explain some aspects of existing knowledge and observations)
    • Face or logical validity
      • The appearance to the athlete and other observers that the test measures what it is intended to measure
    • Content validity
      • The assessment by experts that the testing covers all relevant subtopics or component abilities in appropriate proportions
    • Criterion-referenced validity
      • The extent to which test scores are associated with some other measure of the same ability
    • Discriminant validity
      • The results of a test can differentiate between individuals who have different physical fitness attributes (e.g., athletes vs non-athletes, endurance vs strength athletes)

• Reliability
  • A measure of the degree of consistency or repeatability of a test
  • Capable of consistent repetition
  • Measurement error in reliability can arise from the following:
    • Intra-subject (within subjects) variability
      • The lack of consistent performance by the person tested
    • Intra-rater (within raters) variability
      • The consistency of scores by a given tester
    • Inter-rater (between raters) reliability
      • The consistency of scores across a group of raters
• Objectivity
  • Produce a consistent result irrespective of the tester
• Other considerations
  • Tests should not require any technical competence on the part of the athlete (unless it is being used to assess technique)
  • Care should be taken to make sure that the athlete understands precisely what is required of him/her, what is being measured and why
  • Test procedures should be strictly standardised in terms of administration, organisation and environmental conditions
    • Repeatability

Test Selection

• Needs of the team/coach
  • Context of testing
• Needs of the athlete
  • Age
  • Career level
  • Injury or training status
• Relevance of the test
• Ease of implementation
• Redundant assessments
• Intentional efficiency
• Testing specificity
• Availability of normative data

SWOT analysis

• S = Strengths
• W = Weaknesses
• O = Opportunities
• T = Threats

Resources

• bulleted list
• x

or

1. numbered list
2. x