Strength and conditioning coaches, trainers, whatever you want to call them, use numerous tests to evaluate athletes and clients. From Rep-Max tests for the bench press, squat, and hang clean, to the 40 (football) or 60 yd (baseball) sprint, to the vertical jump test. So what I wonder sometimes is is the test simply assessing a biomotor quality (ie. speed) or does it also tell us something about how they play their sport?
One of my favourite assessment tests has become the 5-10-5 agility test. Simply because it is a better indicator of how the athlete can perform in their sport. This is because it involves change of direction, instead of a straight ahead sprint. My argument is that many sports like soccer and basketball require many changes in direction that are determined by the play of the opposition. Now, the 5-10-5 agility test isn’t perfect, but it does allow us to see non-linear movement much like the athlete encounters in sport.
For those that don’t know this test, the athlete starts straddling a middle line, then runs to the left or right to a line set 5 yards from the middle line, changes direction and runs to a line 10 yards away (5 yds past the middle line), changes direction again and runs through the middle line.
2 things I like noticing with this test is:
a) how does this compare to a straight ahead sprint test? (is a good time achieved on one and not the other?)
b) is their a difference when moving to the left and moving to the right?
Regarding this last point, the agility test must be run at least twice, once in each direction.
This is important because strength and conditioning coaches, and physical therapists have realized that a side to side asymmetry often indicates a higher risk of injury because it shows an unbalanced body. Now, I’m not looking for exact times, but fairly close (what I’m coming to look for a 5-hundreths second difference which is approximately a 10% difference).
As a coach, I want my athletes to equally well in all directions! One of the things I’ve realized within the past 6 months is that training is more than just training strength or power, its also important to teach athletes how to move properly and efficiently…something that becomes increasingly advantageous as an athlete plays at higher levels.
CB
