Test Battery for

Hockey
Performance
Alisha Wong, Alexandra Malinowski, Mia Vandenschrick
Today’s Presentation

● Introduction
● Assessments
● Results
● Conclusion
● Reflection
Introduction - What makes
up an elite hockey player?
● Height and Weight ● Aerobic Fitness

● Flexibility ● Anaerobic Fitness

● Speed ● Lower Body Power

● Agility ● Upper Body Strength

Assessments - Overview

● Anthropometry ● Ebbeling Treadmill Test

● Sit and Reach ● 1RM Bench Press

● Vertical Jump ● 40 Yard Sprint Test

● T-Test ● Wingate Test

 Assessments - Anthropometry

What and Why:

Validity and Reliability
● Height
● Weight Reliability: Low
● Waist circumference
● Arm span ● Slightly different landmarks for
● Skinfolds measurements on each
participant
● Test administration learning
effect

Validity: Low

● With poor reliability comes poor

validity
 Assessments - Sit and Reach
Validity and Reliability
What and Why: Reliability: Medium
● Measures flexibility of lower body
and hamstrings ● The measurement may change
with each trial
● Flexibility helps reduce chance
and severity of injury Validity: Medium

● Good construct validity. It is

one of the best tests to
measure flexibility.
Assessments - Vertical Jump

What and Why Validity and Reliability

● Measures lower body power ● High construct and face validity

● Easy for participant and ● High reliability
administrator ○ Standardized instrument
○ Small learning curve
Assessments - T-Test

What and Why

● Measure agility
● Transition from forwards to lateral
to backwards
Validity and Reliability
● Related to forward and backward
skating ● High construct validity
● Poor face validity
● Low reliability
○ Learning effect
○ Fatigue
Assessments - Ebbeling Treadmill Test

What and Why Validity and Reliability

● Submaximal aerobic ● High Reliability

test
● Poor Face Validity
● Predictor of VO2 max

● VO2 max is best

predictor of overall
fitness
 Assessments - 1RM Bench Press

What and Why

● Measures upper body strength

● Scalable for all fitness levels Validity and Reliability

● High construct and face validity

● Low reliability
○ Limited equipment
○ Limited trials
○ Calculations were less specific
Assessments - 40 Yard Sprint Test

What and Why

Validity and Reliability
● Measures speed
● Fast paced sport ● High construct validity
● Poor face validity
● Reliability
○ Timing gates
○ Multiple testers
 Assessments - Wingate Test

What and Why

● 30 second test
● Measures anaerobic capacity
○ Peak Power
○ Fatigue index
● Repeat sprint intervals at maximal
exertion Validity and Reliability

● Poor face validity

○ Off-ice, on bike
● Construct validity
○ Fatigue curve
 Results

Participants NHL Participants NHL

Height 168.6 cm 206.65 cm Vertical Jump 18.1 in. 32 in.

Weight 63.4 kg 109.32 kg Bench Press 1RM 110.3 lbs 300 lbs

Sum of Skinfolds 89.2 mm 122.6 mm T-Test 17 sec. 8.38 sec

Body fat % 12.2% 15.5% Peak Power Output 9.7 W/kg 14.9 W/kg

Wingspan 169.4 cm 206.48 cm Fatigue Index 47.6% 51.5%

Sit and Reach 29.6 cm 54 cm VO2 Max 55.5 65.5

mL/kg.min mL/kg.min
Reflections & Limitations

● Failing to recruit hockey players significantly affected our protocol

● First experiences in running the tests increased the time it took

● Ideal intratester reliability, poor intertester reliability

● Using tests similar to NHL combine is ideal; however, on ice testing would be better
Conclusion

● In general, the NHL players had better scores than our participants

● Due to the significant limitations of the test battery, it is difficult to

predict the likelihood of a participant’s success in hockey