\u2014\u2013<\/p>\n
When Is It OK to \u201cGuess\u201d and Not Assess?\u00a0<\/strong> \u201cIf you\u2019re not assessing, you\u2019re guessing.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cDon\u2019t assume, assess.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n The novelty\u00a0with the above two statements\u00a0is that when most coaches say this in reference to program design, they\u2019re specifically speaking about \u201cmovement\/orthopedic\u201d types of assessments and not so much about \u201cperformance\u201d type assessments.\u00a0 What exactly do I mean by that?\u00a0 In order to properly address the argument we have to start with as much objectivity as possible.\u00a0 Consider the following categorical paradigm:<\/p>\n Given the pyramid we can see how foundational movement acts as a buffer to performance markers which further buffer our skill level in sports.\u00a0 Ultimately, semantics prevail here and you could argue that the way I\u2019ve defined said categories is not universal and just a mental construct.\u00a0 This is true.\u00a0 But for the sake of argument let\u2019s continue with this outlook to provide better clarity in the end.<\/p>\n When we talk about assessing our athletes we need to attach an adjective that tells others if we\u2019re referencing \u201cperformance assessments\u201d or \u201cmovement assessments\u201d.\u00a0 Sport coaches will usually handle the \u201cskill assessments.\u201d\u00a0 Given the system of buffers described above it only makes sense we invest thorough attention to the foundation via our assessment process. However, the Risk:Reward ratio for many performance tests may not be advantageous at times.\u00a0 If a highly ectomorphic high school freshman walks into your facility with zero training background is it worth the risk to perform a 1-3RM just to prove (aka \u201cassess\u201d) he\/she is weak?\u00a0 Is it sensible to perform agility tests on that same athlete just to obtain an objective measure that labels him\/her \u201cnon-agile\u201d and slow?\u00a0 Do we really need to use the tendo-unit with every incoming athlete to see whether speed-strength or strength-speed is the limiting factor?\u00a0 Might someone get hurt if we attempt to compare counter-movement and depth jumps with an entire high school team just to \u201cassess\u201d their elasticity when we could simply \u201cguess\u201d via their training age that they\u2019re not adequately elastic enough?\u00a0 Perhaps.\u00a0 Perhaps not.\u00a0 It depends on the individuals involved and certainly logistics play a governing role in what we can or choose to perform.<\/p>\n Undoubtedly things will be missed without an assessment no matter how much experience, insight, or prediction one has.\u00a0 I believe this to be the case especially in our \u201cmovement\u201d assessment category but not as realistic of an outlook in our \u201cperformance\u201d category given the potential Risk:Reward ratio previously mentioned.\u00a0 This is why I propose the general rule of thumb that we be most thorough with our movement tests and conservative with our performance tests.\u00a0 We wouldn\u2019t want anyone to get hurt during a performance test just because it\u2019s better to \u201cassess\u201d then \u201cguess.\u201d\u00a0 Simply \u201cguessing\u201d the obvious that they lack absolute strength and training for it is perfectly fine.\u00a0 It\u2019s equally as acceptable to \u201cguess\u201d a beginner athlete lacks elasticity and training them for it without having to \u201cassess\u201d a depth jump to counter movement jump comparison.\u00a0 Also, the performance test outcomes will most likely change after foundational movement has been brought up to adequate.\u00a0 In this light we could argue that doing many performance tests are simply an expression of current limitations and the athlete\u2019s true potential will only be realized after the base of the pyramid has been fixed.<\/p>\n Now, if you\u2019ve developed a battery of performance tests for a particular population then it only makes sense you run them through it provided there\u2019s no contraindications from movement assessments.\u00a0 But if you\u2019re applying a battery of performance tests to all populations irrespective of individuality you may run into trouble and someone might get hurt.\u00a0 Ultimately, the decision to perform any test relies on your priority of qualities and\/or estimation of the probability that the client has a particular condition in question via algorithmic thinking.<\/p>\n In conclusion, sometimes a \u201cguess\/assumption\u201d is a good thing and you\u2019re safest estimation towards a desired outcome without having to take them to a threshold point.\u00a0 It should not always be frowned upon, especially in regards to performance assessments.\u00a0 Heck, sometimes \u201cguessing\u201d is a better option than assessing in a certain situations.\u00a0 It depends.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Today I have a guest blog from Sam Leahey regarding both qualitative and quantitative testing in an athletic environment.\u00a0 The main point Sam addresses is whether or not there is a right or wrong time to perform quantitative testing. Sam Leahey is currently pursuing a masters degree in exercise science at Springfield College and serves […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-473","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-strength-and-conditioning"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/optimumsportsperformance.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/473","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/optimumsportsperformance.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/optimumsportsperformance.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/optimumsportsperformance.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/optimumsportsperformance.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=473"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/optimumsportsperformance.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/473\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":475,"href":"https:\/\/optimumsportsperformance.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/473\/revisions\/475"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/optimumsportsperformance.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=473"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/optimumsportsperformance.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=473"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/optimumsportsperformance.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=473"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nSam Leahey<\/strong><\/p>\n![\"download\"](\"https:\/\/optimumsportsperformance.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/download.jpeg\")
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