 Welcome from BMW Open in Munich! My name is Philipp Halfmann and I am the Director of Exercise and Sport Science at the IAAPH and I am also the author of Advanced Concepts of Strength and Conditioning for Tennis. In last week's episode I will talk about how flexibility impacts on-court performance. In today's episode I will talk about problems with fitness testing for tennis players and explain how to correct them. You will learn about test validity and how to improve it, test reliability and testing recommendations. Did you know that some of the tests conducted by NCAA Division I schools are actually invalid? I have heard from many national tennis coaches that their athlete's fitness test results do not translate onto the court. For example, there are some kids who do very well during the endurance test but they fatigue rather quickly during matches. Problems with fitness testings are widespread phenomenon because test validity and test reliability are often compromised. Test validity means that one truly assesses what one tries to test, which doesn't always happen. For example, some people use a sit and reach test to assess total body flexibility. It is reliable which means that subsequent tests will be consistent but the test is not valid because the sit and reach doesn't predict total body flexibility since test outcomes are affected by the individual's limp length. In order to ensure test validity adherence to the following is important. So first, are all test parameters consistent so one assesses whatever they are supposed to test? For example, there are three exercises that most coaches use to test power capabilities. Bench press, squat, deadlift. Right there in the title, the power lift test is invalid because neither of the aforementioned exercises assesses power capabilities because none of these exercises are performed at high or maximum velocity and power, remember, is defined as force times distance over time. So where is the speed component? Actually, athletes will perform these lifts in a slower fashion so that they can exert more force because they can stabilize the movement more. Therefore, it actually assesses the opposite strengths capabilities. Second, is the tester skilled and knowledgeable in the test protocol? If the test isn't conducted properly in an orderly fashion and or the results are not recorded accurately, then the test is invalid. For example, when coaches try to count clap pushups they run into difficulties because A, if the technique is wrong or poor then the test is invalid and B, if the athletes don't go up and down all the way then the test is unreliable because they didn't go through the full range of motion and hence we didn't test what we were supposed to test particularly if we compare to performance norms. Also, if the athletes are not NCAA Division I level athletes then don't compare them to test scores for Division I athletes it makes it invalid. Third, is the athlete proficient in the test? If the athlete does not know how to perform the test then the test is invalid. This is one of the prominent mistakes committed by many coaches. Fourth, is the athlete psychological and physiological prepared to be tested? If the athlete is not motivated to do the test then it's going to be very hard to optimize test outcomes. Physiological preparation refers to dynamic warm-ups which activate the nervous system and hence increase firing rate and synchronicity of muscle fibers enhance muscle fiber recruitment faster efferent, efferent conversion meaning signal transmission and greater flexibility of the tissue so there is less resistance within the tissue. So, the signal is very strong and powerful and one also has greater pliability of the muscle tissue so there is less resistance within the tissue. Athletes should not static stretch prior to testing because that creates relaxation within the muscle tissue which decreases its ability to create maximum tension and the velocity of the tension is reduced as well. Test reliability refers to test consistency. Retesting should be an exact duplication of the initial test conducted which means that all factors need to be consistent such as the test scoring system the test protocol that was used before use of the same equipment and also make sure that the equipment is calibrated correctly and same warm-up routine. Now, with this in mind, it is not surprising that most endurance tests conducted by coaches are invalid. For example, why would someone have the athlete's steady state jog to assess endurance capabilities when a tennis player moves multi-planar doing a match? In other words, jogging occurs in one plane in the direction, meaning in the sagittal plane and assesses the endurance capabilities of the involved musculature but a tennis player moves forward, backwards, and side-to-side which requires contributions from various muscle groups. Therefore, the uni-planar steady state endurance test doesn't test the musculature involved in multi-planar movement on the tennis court which makes the test invalid. Next, I want to introduce a simple performance test the kneel and jump test that you can conduct with your athletes. The kneel and jump test focuses on assessing hip flexor speed kneel on the ground with knee shoulder width apart use arm swings to create momentum elevate yourself up the ground jump, flex, hips rapidly land on your feet in a squat position More tests, including detailed descriptions are presented in Chapter 4 of Advanced Concepts of Strength and Conditioning for Tennis Well, that's it again for today's episode As usual opinions differ What's your point of view? Let us know below in the comment section A brand new episode will be available next Sunday So make sure you don't miss it and subscribe In the meantime, I recommend you watch some of the previous episodes You should really watch them all If you like what you saw, tell your friends I'm sure they will appreciate it I'm Philipp Halfmann, thank you for watching and auf Wiedersehen! Thanks for tuning in for Tennis