Which Physical Tests to Pick, by Sport

There's no universal testing battery : what makes sense for a powerlifter has little relevance for a team-sport athlete. This article, part of the athlete tracking guide for sports coaches, details the main families of physical tests, how to match them to the sport being played, and how often to run them without turning every testing session into one more tiring workout.

Why test athletes regularly

A physical test gives a numeric benchmark, at a given moment, for a specific quality (strength, power, endurance). Repeated over time, that benchmark lets you measure real progress instead of relying on an impression. It also feeds into program personalization : work intensities can be calibrated on the most recent results rather than an estimate, and a numeric goal grounded in a real test often motivates more than a vague one.

The main families of tests

Strength and power tests

The 1RM (one-rep max) remains the reference for measuring maximal strength on a given lift, but needs rigorous supervision to stay safe. The CMJ (counter movement jump) measures vertical jump height and serves as a lower-body explosive power test : simple to run, requiring no expensive equipment, and considered reliable and reproducible in the literature (study). See The CMJ Test for the full protocol.

Endurance and VMA tests

For endurance qualities, field tests like the half-Cooper (running the maximum distance in a set time) let you estimate VMA with no lab equipment. See The Half-Cooper Test for the protocol, adaptable to a coach-supervised context.

Mobility and movement-quality tests

Less numeric than strength or endurance tests, mobility tests (joint range of motion, squat or lunge movement quality) give useful qualitative benchmarks for adjusting a program, especially for a beginner athlete or one returning after a break. They lend themselves less well to strict numeric comparison, but remain a useful piece of the initial assessment.

Building a battery suited to the sport

In strength training and powerlifting, priority goes to maximal strength tests (1RM or estimated) and power (CMJ). In team sports, a battery typically combines a power test (CMJ), a short-distance speed test, and an intermittent endurance test suited to the sport's repeated efforts. In combat sports, strength and power tests remain useful, complemented by tests specific to the discipline's intense intermittent effort demands. In racket sports, the speed-agility and intermittent endurance combination usually takes priority over raw strength.

In every case, a short battery of 3 to 5 tests that's actually used beats a long list of measurements that never get reanalyzed.

Frequency and best practices

Retesting too often tires the athlete without adding information; retesting too rarely makes it hard to distinguish real progress from a one-off variation. Once or twice per training cycle (often every 6 to 12 weeks) usually strikes a good balance.

Running tests under comparable conditions each time (same warm-up, similar time of day, a rested athlete) makes the comparison between two sessions more reliable than a result obtained under very different conditions. See Planning a Typical Training Week for folding these testing sessions into overall planning rather than adding them at the last minute.