Sports Performance Testing
What is Sports Performance Testing?
Sports performance training is the process of building faster, stronger, more explosive athletes through targeted development of speed, acceleration, change of direction, strength, and jumping ability.
At The Athlete’s Playground, we train youth athletes as young as 6 all the way through the collegiate level, using advanced testing systems like VALD ForceDecks, SmartSpeed timing gates, and HumanTrak motion capture to measure and track real performance data. From vertical jump to sprint mechanics and agility, every metric is monitored, every movement is coached, and every athlete is developed with purpose.
Speed & Agility Testing
Speed and agility are the foundation of athletic performance—every sport demands the ability to accelerate, decelerate, and change direction with precision.
At The Athlete’s Playground, we assess 5m, 10m, and 20m sprints, along with the 40- and 60-yard dash, Pro-Agility Shuttle, and various sport-specific tests to break down first-step quickness, acceleration mechanics, and lateral movement efficiency.
Using electronic speed timing gates, we capture highly accurate, objective data to eliminate guesswork. Research consistently shows that improvements in acceleration and change of direction directly translate to in-game performance.
This testing allows us to identify inefficiencies and build faster, more explosive, and more reactive athletes.
Vertical Jump Testing
Explosive power is one of the most critical indicators of athletic performance, and vertical jump testing provides direct insight into how efficiently an athlete produces force.
Using different jump tests like Abalakov jumps, countermovement jumps, and depth jumps on VALD ForceDecks, we measure peak force, rate of force development, and total power output.
These metrics are strongly linked to sprint speed, agility, and overall athletic explosiveness. We also assess left-to-right symmetry during takeoff and landing to identify imbalances that can limit performance or increase injury risk.
This is more than just a jump test—it’s a complete breakdown of how an athlete generates and transfers power.
Horizontal Power & Force Production
Horizontal Power (Broad Jump Testing) measures an athlete’s ability to produce force in a forward, linear direction—critical for sprint acceleration and on-field explosiveness.
Using both bilateral and unilateral broad jumps, we assess how effectively an athlete generates and transfers force through each leg, while also identifying imbalances that may impact performance.
This testing provides clear insight into lower-body power, coordination, and stability, helping us develop faster, more explosive athletes from the ground up.
Strength (Age-Appropriate Testing
Strength is the backbone of speed, power, and injury resilience, but it must be assessed appropriately based on age and experience.
Elementary and middle school athletes complete timed bodyweight tests to evaluate foundational strength, muscular endurance, and movement control.
High school athletes are progressed based on training experience—beginners continue with bodyweight assessments, while intermediate to advanced athletes perform controlled 1–3 rep max testing to measure true strength capacity.
This structured progression ensures safety while providing accurate data on an athlete’s ability to produce force, which directly impacts speed, jumping, and overall performance.
Mobility & Flexibility Testing
Mobility and flexibility are essential for efficient movement, force production, and injury prevention.
Using tools like the Sit-and-Reach test alongside dynamic movement assessments, we evaluate range of motion, joint health, and muscular flexibility.
Limited mobility can restrict movement patterns and reduce an athlete’s ability to produce and absorb force effectively.
By identifying these limitations, we can target specific areas to improve positioning, movement efficiency, and overall performance.
Better mobility leads to cleaner movement, greater control, and a lower risk of injury—allowing athletes to perform at their highest level.
3D Movement Analysis
This is NOT body composition—this is looking at how your body moves and performs
3D Movement Analysis uses markerless motion capture to evaluate how an athlete moves through key patterns like squatting, lunging, and hinging, providing objective data on joint angles, coordination, and side-to-side differences.
This allows us to identify asymmetries—such as uneven loading, limited range of motion, or compensations—that can affect performance and place added stress on specific joints or tissues.
Monitoring these patterns is important because asymmetries and movement limitations have been associated with increased injury risk in athletic populations, and tracking them over time helps guide targeted training and rehabilitation strategies.
It also plays a valuable role in return-to-play decisions by comparing current movement quality to baseline data, helping ensure the athlete is moving efficiently and symmetrically before progressing back to full activity.
Data-Driven Athlete Assessment
We evaluate 20 key performance metrics to build a complete and accurate picture of how each athlete moves, performs, and produces force.
Our assessment system measures:
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Speed and acceleration
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Change of direction and agility
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Vertical and linear power
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Strength and force production
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Mobility and flexibility
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Movement quality and asymmetries
Every assessment is designed to identify strengths, uncover limitations, and create a clear path for improvement—so athletes know exactly where they stand and what it takes to get better.
This isn’t just testing—it’s how we build smarter, safer, and more effective training programs for every athlete.
At The Athlete’s Playground, what makes our system valuable isn’t just what we test—it’s how we test, how we interpret the data, and how we apply it to real training.
Assessment Investment
The cost of the assessment is $99.99 + tax.
There is no obligation to train at The Athlete’s Playground.
This assessment provides you with real, objective data on how you or your athlete is currently performing physically.
If you do decide to move forward with training, your $99.99 will be credited toward your training package (4-pack or 8-pack required).