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

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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

Benefits of Testing

The results from tests can be used to:

• Predict future performance
• Indicate weaknesses
• Measure improvement
• Enable the coach to assess the success of the training programme
• Place the athlete in an appropriate training group
• Motivate the athlete
• Break up and add variety to the training programme
• Satisfy the athlete's competitive urge out of season
• Testing demands the maximum effort of the athlete - useful at times as a training unit

Requirements of Testing

The selected test should measure the factors required to be tested. All tests should be:

• Specific
  • designed to assess and athlete's fitness for the activity in question
• 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 validity
      • The appearance to the athlete and other observers that the test measures what it is purported 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
• Reliability
  • A measure of the degree of consistency or repeatability of a test
  • Capable of consistent repetition
  • Measurement error 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
  • Measure one factor only??
  • 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

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