Obviously tests are done to see “who did work” while away in summer and for the coach to have some comparative value to see “who is in shape.”
The issue, as most would agree, tests have little correlation to “game specific fitness.”
Football culture and coaches traditions enable these type of tests.
My question to everyone is how does a strength and conditioning coach establish a measure of evaluating “fitness” in an athlete? Is it even worth “testing”? I have my feelings on this I will share later.
In my college players, I have seen everything from 30x110 in 15 sec/45 sec (WR), 24x55yd 8/35sec (DL), to gassers, half gassers and 300 yd shuttles.
Anyone following a light conditioning program should pass the standards…guys are coming in fat, weak, and slow. Everyone assumes people are coming in explosive and fast when in reality they are not coming in any form.
Albert is not learning to preserve his type II fiber or managing his CNS and pulling a Farve by pacing himself though the season. He just came in out of shape.
Reminds me of the story Charlie told about an Aussie rugby star (Tuqiri, I believe). Apparently they gave the players 6 weeks off at the end of the season and then had a conditioning test when they returned. Tuqiri, a specimen and from what I’ve heard, one of the more explosive players in the world failed the test and was sent home from the training camp on the spot.
The other issue that you will see is that these tests are often dominated by some of the LEAST explosive athletes on the team with the faster guys usually bringing up the rear.
A big problem with football coaches is that many still conduct 2 a days and training camps as if the players had been sedentary the entire off-season, as was typical a few decades ago. Nowadays with OTAs, minicamps, and lifting/conditioning starting in March, the volume and grind of camp is something one must survive rather than a stimulus that builds to a peak before the regular season and in my opinion is largely outdated.
We were required to have a ‘conditioning’ test in 07 or 08 after one of the breaks and, if I remember correctly, this is what Buddy and I came up with:
Take their 40yd time, divide by .75 (ergo their tempo 40) and have them run it X amount of times with 45 sec rest between each run. I think the small skill guys ran 16-18, big skill 14-16, and linemen 12-14.
Buddy and I basically wanted to have a compromise between what the football coaches would recognize (ergo running) yet something that was consistent with what they actually do in training (ergo tempo) that ultimately showed they maintained their general aerobic capacity; or ‘shape’ for the layman.
If I were to construct one that were to correspond to competition biodynamic/bioenergetic structure then it would be an alactic capacity test that was more 70/30 or 80/20 special strength/short speed oriented for down line, 50/50 special strength/short speed for big skill, and predominantly short speed with possible change of direction for small skill. Done in this way, contrary to the abortions that currently constitute ‘conditioning tests’, one would actually have an accurate idea as to the player’s readiness for training camp.
Yes - it’s like watching the 1500m in the decathlon at the Olympics. Everyone who is on the podium is essentially “jogging” the last event as it is relatively inconsequential.
Based upon his appearance alone, the coach who sent Tuqiri home for failing to run X amount of kilometers fast enough should have been fired on the spot.
I worked with Darrelle a few times before he left for NY and he’s an absolute machine in all physical respects. So, while I do not know what Sal’s test consists of, I’m certain that him skipping the test has nothing to due with his physical condition.
Funny you say this because when you look at Darrelle he don’t wow you - similar to Curtis Martin but they both were very good football players and made plays.
I’m guessing that you haven’t seen either of them up close and in person. I obviously have and, while this is a subjective matter, they look impressive to me.
You misunderstood me, I’m talking about physical numbers - they didn’t run 4.2-4.3 and jump 43inches etc. People always said Curtis wasn’t the biggest, strongest, fastest but was a great football player.
