What are we testing for?

Recently, I've been inundated by requests from coaches to test their athletes. Speed, agility, power, strength--everything that could be deemed athletic.

While this is clearly a great marketing tool to get more kids involved in our programming, it's very Machiavellian to take part in this behavior.

All else aside, what does testing our athletes really prove? As a scientist, I like to believe that the Scientific Method still holds true. Develop a hypothesis, experiment, and make a viable conclusion based on the experimental results.

Unfortunately, in this instance we have no hypothesis or a reliable conclusion. We test because some coach wants empirical data that has no direct correlation to the reasons for the test, making the conclusions irrevocably useless...and by useless I mean pointless.

We test the 40 yard dash for speed--athlete runs a 5.2.
So now we do a 5-10-5--the athlete did it in 4.0 seconds.
Coach wants to know how strong the athlete is...so we see how many times he can bench press 225lbs. The athlete did it only 4 times and now complains of shoulder pain that wasn't previously present.

Conclusions

Athlete runs a 40 in 5.2 seconds, a 5-10-5 in 4.0 seconds, and can bench press 225lbs for 4 reps.

The athlete plays basketball.

Now, according to science we should be able to deduce more empirical data about performance.

Can we deduce that this athlete averages 30 points per game? According to the test, the athlete is agile so they should be able to get around defenders easily and score. But wait, the athlete only benched 225lbs for 4 reps so, that athlete should only score 15 points per game because they are not strong enough to handle contact.
The athlete is slow according to a 40 yard sprint and doesn't have the speed to get up and down the court--This athlete should only be able to score approximately 8 points per game.

My apologies for the seemingly endless dribble (no pun intended) but, as always, I have a point.

Emmitt Smith.

Emmitt ran a 4.71 in his NFL Combine. Without question, above average high school athletes can post times better than this.

One of the greatest running backs in NFL history, deemed slow according to a test. Looking back on the past, Emmitt should've been the #2 pick considering all the championships won and records broken. Nope, 16 players got picked ahead of him. Blair Thomas ran a 4.4 and got picked 2nd. Blair only scored 5 touchdowns in 6 seasons in the NFL.

To be continued....

Coming up next: What are we testing for? Part II