Fitness and Performance Testing in Sport - Benefits, Requirements and Results: Difference between revisions
No edit summary |
No edit summary |
||
Line 92: | Line 92: | ||
* Needs of the team/coach | * Needs of the team/coach | ||
** | ** Rehabilitation professionals can use their knowledge and experience to inform the goals or performance outcomes | ||
** selected assessments help with decision-making processes | |||
* Needs of the athlete | * Needs of the athlete | ||
** Age | ** Age | ||
Line 98: | Line 99: | ||
** Injury or training status | ** Injury or training status | ||
* Relevance of the test | * Relevance of the test | ||
** how will this help a rehabilitation professional address the athlete's needs? | |||
** determine which physical fitness attributes are relevant | |||
* Ease of implementation | * Ease of implementation | ||
** consider available resources and barriers to implementation | |||
* Redundant assessments | * Redundant assessments | ||
** select the sufficient amount of tests to address the athlete's needs without too much overlap between tests | |||
* Intentional efficiency | * Intentional efficiency | ||
* Testing specificity | * Testing specificity | ||
* Availability of normative data | * Availability of normative data | ||
SWOT Analysis Framework | ===== SWOT Analysis Framework ===== | ||
"This framework may help determine the feasibility of implementing assessments." Fukuda | |||
"This framework may help determine the feasibility of implementing assessments." Fukuda | |||
* S = Strengths (internal factor) | * S = Strengths (internal factor) | ||
Line 113: | Line 117: | ||
* T = Threats (external factor) | * T = Threats (external factor) | ||
== | === Other Considerations with Test Selection === | ||
* | |||
* | * Metabolic Energy System Specificity | ||
or | ** Consider the energy demands of the sport and which system (phosphagen, glycolytic and/or oxidative) are being used | ||
** position of player and position dependent aspects | |||
** work-rest ratio | |||
** Biomechanical movement pattern specificity | |||
*** Test need to have similarities with important movements of the sport or activity and consider position dependent aspects | |||
** Experience and training status | |||
*** Athlete's ability to perfrom technique | |||
*** Athlete's level of strength and endurance | |||
** Age and Sex | |||
*** this may affect athlete's experience, interest and ability | |||
** Environmental factors | |||
*** High temperature and high humidity can impair performance, have health risks and lower the validity of aerobic endurance tests | |||
*** Fluctuations in temperature can affect the ability to compare test results over time | |||
*** Altitude will influence endurance tests, but not strength and power tests | |||
*** Standardised environmental conditions are needed wherever possible | |||
== References == | == References == | ||
<references /> | <references /> |
Revision as of 15:13, 14 December 2022
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?[edit | edit source]
- Assess athletic talent[1]
- Identify physical abilities[2]
- strengths and weaknesses
- Identify areas in need of improvement
- Goal setting
- Progress evaluation[2] or to determine the need for possible changes in training programme (Fukuda)
- Indicates effectiveness of decisions related to athletes (Fukuda text book)
- Provides quality data that can inform decision-making processes (Fukuda)
- Outcomes of tests can be used to identify skill sets that will determine player positions or specialities
- May predict performance
- Can help in injury prevention and prehabilitation
- read more on Musculoskeletal Injury Risk Screening (link)
- Results can be compared against normative data
- this can help athletes see where they currently stand or how much they have progressed
Key Terminology[edit | edit source]
- 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[3]
- Evaluation = the process of analysing test results for the purpose of making decisions[3]
Requirements of Testing[edit | edit source]
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)
- individual constraints such as:
- 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)
- Construct validity
- 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
- Intra-subject (within subjects) variability
- 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[edit | edit source]
- Needs of the team/coach
- Rehabilitation professionals can use their knowledge and experience to inform the goals or performance outcomes
- selected assessments help with decision-making processes
- Needs of the athlete
- Age
- Career level
- Injury or training status
- Relevance of the test
- how will this help a rehabilitation professional address the athlete's needs?
- determine which physical fitness attributes are relevant
- Ease of implementation
- consider available resources and barriers to implementation
- Redundant assessments
- select the sufficient amount of tests to address the athlete's needs without too much overlap between tests
- Intentional efficiency
- Testing specificity
- Availability of normative data
SWOT Analysis Framework[edit | edit source]
"This framework may help determine the feasibility of implementing assessments." Fukuda
- S = Strengths (internal factor)
- W = Weaknesses (internal factor)
- O = Opportunities (external factor)
- T = Threats (external factor)
Other Considerations with Test Selection[edit | edit source]
- Metabolic Energy System Specificity
- Consider the energy demands of the sport and which system (phosphagen, glycolytic and/or oxidative) are being used
- position of player and position dependent aspects
- work-rest ratio
- Biomechanical movement pattern specificity
- Test need to have similarities with important movements of the sport or activity and consider position dependent aspects
- Experience and training status
- Athlete's ability to perfrom technique
- Athlete's level of strength and endurance
- Age and Sex
- this may affect athlete's experience, interest and ability
- Environmental factors
- High temperature and high humidity can impair performance, have health risks and lower the validity of aerobic endurance tests
- Fluctuations in temperature can affect the ability to compare test results over time
- Altitude will influence endurance tests, but not strength and power tests
- Standardised environmental conditions are needed wherever possible
References[edit | edit source]
- ↑ Koopmann T, Faber I, Baker J, Schorer J. Assessing technical skills in talented youth athletes: a systematic review. Sports Medicine. 2020 Sep;50(9):1593-611.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Mancha-Triguero D, Garcia-Rubio J, Calleja-González J, Ibáñez SJ. Physical fitness in basketball players: A systematic review. J. Sports Med. Phys. Fit. 2019 Sep 1;59:1513-25.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 D'Isanto T, D'Elia F, Raiola G, Altavilla G. Assessment of sport performance: Theoretical aspects and practical indications. Sport Mont. 2019;17(1):79-82.
- ↑ The PE Tutor. Validity || Reliability || Practicality - What's the difference !? Available from:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qb-1hMw3spo [last accessed 14/12/2022]