Performance Assessment in Strength and Conditioning

Performance Assessment in Strength and Conditioning provides an indicative guide regarding the most appropriate and reliable methods of assessing and monitoring athletic performance in athletes. This new and fully revised second edition explores the full range of considerations required to reliably assess performance, including questions of ethics and safety, reliability and validity and standardised testing, before going on to recommend (through a comparison of field- and laboratory-based techniques) the optimal methods for testing all aspects of physical performance. The book delivers a concise review of the existing literature related to the primary topic, followed by practical applications and guidelines for the standardisation of appropriate testing procedures and protocols for each type of testing. Additionally, a discussion of the key variables (e.g., specific force-time characteristics) for the tests is explored in relation to benchmarking, longitudinal monitoring, fatigue monitoring and injury risk, as appropriate for each test. Closing with a section on interpreting, presenting and applying results to practice, and illustrated with real-life case study data throughout, Performance Assessment in Strength and Conditioning offers the most useful guide to monitoring athlete performance available. This book is an essential text for upper-level strength and conditioning students and practitioners alike as well as all individuals involved in training athletes and researchers in the field of sports science.

Paul Comfort, PhD, is a Professor of Strength and Conditioning at the University of Salford, UK, and an Adjunct Professor at Edith Cowan University, Western Australia. Paul A. Jones, PhD, is an Associate Professor of Sports and Exercise Biomechanics and Programme Leader for the MSc Strength and Conditioning Programme at the University of Salford, UK.

1. Ethical and Health and Safety Considerations. 2. Psychological Issues of Testing. 3. Measurement Error, Reliability, and Validity. 4. Standardisation of Testing. 5. Structured Testing vs. Continual Monitoring. 6. Movement Screening and Injury Risk. 7. Single-Joint Isometric Strength. 8. Hamstring Function: Assessing Structure and Strength. 9. Countermovement Jump Testing. 10. Sprints. 11. Assessment of Change of Direction and Agility. 12. Multi-Joint Strength - Isometric and Dynamic Testing. 13. Aerobic Performance Assessment. 14. Body Composition. 15. Interpretation of Results. 16. Presentation and Communication of Results. 17. Application to Training.