In order to assist the clubs and divisions Jenn Stielow has revised the testing tips and guidelines
and created a data submission template in Excel. The spreadsheet also
includes some extra tabs that can be used during and after the evaluation (more
tools). This data sheet will allow for the direct copy and paste into the
database, leading to quicker feedback. If you submit an incomplete data sheet then your feedback will take longer as she will need to look up each individual's information and then enter it by hand. The database uses all the athlete's information to verify it is the same athlete and then it can pull that athlete's entire history from the database so it shows up in the pdf report. In other
words, if data is missing, it makes it very hard to conduct the test-to-test comparison, which is a very valuable evaluation tool. Please note, there is a comment box included on the pdf report. Please use this comment box
for individual athlete comments.
Jenn is in the
process of segmenting the database into different age groups (J1, J2, J3, J4) to establish sport-specific normative tables. Please note these norms will
not include elite level athletes, but only junior athletes within WR. This
means there are some limitations to this data set. When we first began testing two years ago the results were fair and as the test has begun to be more
widely used we are seeing an increase in test scores (positive adaptation).
This means that the sport-specific normative tables will need to be
adjusted in the future. There are a set of normative tables included in the USSA
Physical Assessment CD testing guide pdf and these norms are well-established
for a number of sports. In general, comparison of individual athlete test data with normative tables needs to be done with good knowledge of the limitations and restrictions of such data. For example, the individual athlete's stage of growth and development, specific genetic traits,
etc..
Please remember- "if you are not measuring it, you are not managing
it". The purpose of performing controlled physical assessments is to identify the relative strengths and weaknesses of an individual athlete, refine
training programs, assess responses to specific training programs over time and encourage the continual increase of coaching and athlete knowledge base, resulting in the gradual improvement in the quality of conditioning prescription. The physical assessment testing should only be used to
evaluate your conditioning programs and you should seek individual, positive test -to- test results. This is what the region will be evaluating.
Lastly, there have been requests for help from
several clubs this summer with locating physical assessment testing sites and
dates. As soon as you have your dates and times, set please forward that
information to Jenn so she can share the information with others who need to find
somewhere to take the test.
Some tips on running the assessments are here and a checklist of how to run the test is here. To run the actual test you need to purchase the USSA Physical Assessment CD
from the USSA Education Department. The CD can be purchased here: http://shop.usskiteam.com/store/product.php?productid=16329&cat=104&page=1.
