Back in 1992 whilst at Medical School I wrote a dissertation on “Programming of Movement in Parkinson’s Disease” where I looked at all the neural pathways involved in the programming of movement. Little did I know some 16 years later this would become very relevant  in understanding complex movements for sport and what I am now involved in with Games Education.

Hi all a little piece about the merits and values of straight line sprints in assessment. This was stimulated by a discussion I had with the head of fitness at a Premiership football club yesterday….

So in a number of sports a straight line sprint features in many assessments for talent identification, fitness and general baseline measurements. It is standard in the LTA and used in many football clubs. But here’s some conundrums for you :

1. Is it relevant to the sport / game play?

2. Does it have positive predictive value for athletic success in that sport?

3. Is there a better test that might address points 1 & 2?