Athletes must be tested at game speed to document their strengths and weaknesses. Knowing that we are the fastest doesn’t necessarily mean that both legs are working efficiently together. Acceleration left-to-right must equal acceleration right-to-left so that you are not developing a dominant side. If we want to be able and agile in all directions, both legs should be working as symmetrically as possible.

Testing for efficiency begins by accelerating through a 30m OptoJump system on the ground. The athlete starts running when a Witty SEM semaphore counts down a randomized 3-2-1-GO. Their time is precisely measured between two Witty timing gates. Data gathered from the devices will show us exact readings for speed, acceleration, stride length, contact, and flight time of each leg.

Using the Witty SEM at the start allows us to quantify the athlete’s reaction time, which, like all cognitive markers, is an indicator of brain function. In looking at the speed and acceleration readings, the importance lies in knowing whether or not the athlete is generating speed and acceleration symmetrically. The speed curve allows us to instantly understand the efficiency of each leg’s acceleration by looking at the slope between the data points. The acceleration curve shows left-to-right and right-to-left acceleration. An inefficient acceleration curve would let us know that one leg is accelerating much better than the other. If the athlete is compensating for an imbalance, we can help the athlete identify it before it leads to injury

If reaction time is quick, but total time is slow, the athlete should work on explosivity and speed training in Flight School. On the other hand, if reaction time is slow and total time is average or above, the athlete should work on cognitive training in Cognitive School. If large imbalances are noted in the speed or acceleration charts, we must move on to the Drift Protocol to see exactly what is causing them.