EVERY COACH HAS his own tests to evaluate players. While they want to see if their players are getting bigger, stronger and faster, it’s often difficult to determine who’s the strongest player on the team. 

When it comes to listing who is the strongest, most coaches simply go by who lifted the most weight; also usually the heaviest person.

It’s not fair to simply judge a player’s performance based on sprint times or lifts without taking into account his body weight. There are several ways to incorporate body weight into maximum lifts, but what about the non-lifting event?

How do you accurately judge those events?

When I took this coaching position, there was no method of testing athletes other than by looking at numbers to see if they went up or down. The only tested events were the bench press, squat and 40-yard dash.

Our coaching staff wanted more testing events – ones that go hand-in-hand with athletic performance – and a more concrete testing evaluation system. 

With the help of some students in one of the computer programming classes that I teach, we compiled our testing information and developed a program that would allow us to accurately determine testing improvement rates. 

Events, Parameters
It was decided that players would be tested in the bench press, power clean, squat, 40-yard dash, 20-yard dash and the vertical jump. We set out to derive a mathematical formula to give us an overall performance indicator that came to be called the Point System. 

The Point System awards points for each event based on maximum lift, body weight and times. This system was also effective because it created an “inner-competition” among our players. In this system, it doesn’t matter who weighs the most or lifts the most. Points are given as a total representation of performance.

How Formula Works
Take the three lifting max’s (bench, clean, and squat) and add them together for a total. This is divided by the athlete’s exact body weight to achieve a Power Index. The Power Index is one of the most important aspects of the Point System, and is the basis for the rest of your tests. 

Your first set of points will come as a result of the Power Index. To find it, multiply the total (of all 3 lifts) by the index.
Next, test the players in non-lifting events and record those scores. For the 20- and 40-yard dash, along with the vertical jump, determine your points by first multiplying the body weight by the Power Index and then dividing by the tested time or distance.

Adding Totals 
Now that you have point values for each of your tested events, add them up for a total. Not only will a change in body weight affect your results, so will changes in performance.  Most players don’t understand the mathematics behind the point total, but they comprehend the final results. 

Your players will want to compete for the highest point totals. That means they will work harder on their lifts, but they also must start watching their diets and work harder on conditioning to eliminate the excess weight they’ve been carrying around.

Rewards
Base your rewards systems on your school colors (our colors were black, silver, white and purple) and issue t-shirts accordingly. Players must complete each and every one of the test events to be eligible for an award. Our award system works as follows:

Black Knight Award: Players who score over 5,500 points.
Silver Knight Award: Point totals between 4,300 and 5,499.
Purple Knight Award: 3,400 to 4,299 points. 
Iron Knight: Below 3,400 points.

Testing is done twice a year and the lifter with the highest point total gets the “Lifter of the Year” award.