Leading soccer trainers such as Raymond Verheijen of the Netherlands and Greg Gatz of the University of North Carolina agree that testing reveals valuable information about a player's fitness. An unfit player can be hiding on your team, even during a winning game, Verheijen notes in "Complete Handbook of Conditioning for Soccer." Periodic tests can quickly detect a lack of fitness and aid in crafting a program to remedy this. Gatz, in "Complete Conditioning for Soccer," recommends tests not only in preseason, but also to track progress at midseason and at the end of the season.
Considerations
You can use the information from your preseason testing to figure out the quickest, fittest and strongest players, says University of North Carolina Greensboro coach Michael Parker in "Premier Soccer." Parker posts preseason testing results, including ranks, so players know where they stand and how to improve.
Battery
Parker administers to his college athletes the Cooper test, a two-mile timed run, as part of a battery of five tests spread out over alternate days. Stinkers entail paired players timing each other's runs four times around two flags 40 yards apart, with a total of three repetitions. The 4-8-4 test requires running 400 yards, 800 yards and 400 yards separated by five-minute rests. The beep test requires running between two cones 20 yards apart prompted by a recurring recording of a beep until the athlete can't keep pace. The final test, the 40 yards times 10, requires 40-yard sprints, with the fastest time of 10 recorded as well as the combined time.
Alternatives
Gatz also administers the beep test to his college players. He adds the total-body power throw with a medicine ball, having male players throw a 3-kilogram ball as far as they can, and female players a 2-kilogram ball. Players also must complete the Illinois agility test, which requires them to jump to their feet after lying face down on the ground and weave in an "M" shape around three cones on the way to a finish point. His Carolina players must complete a 30-meters-times-seven sprint test, with 25 seconds of recovery between each sprint. The Myrland hurdle "under" test checks for tightness in the hamstrings, lower back and hips as detected by stepping under a hurdle sideways, legs sideways and bent over, Gatz says. The hurdle begins with the crossbar at half the player's leg height and is lowered 3 inches at a time until his back contacts the crossbar.
Goalkeepers
U.S. men's national team goalkeeping coach Timothy Mulqueen says in "The Complete Soccer Goalkeeper" that conditioning tests are not essential for goalies, especially young ones. Instead, evaluate your goalies by observation during skills drills and matches. He suggests a checklist ranking each goalie from 1, very strong, to 5, weak, in the categories of anaerobic fitness, explosive power or jumping, strength, speed and agility, and eye-hand coordination and reflexes.
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