An assessment of four running tests used in military training

Abstract

Study aim: contemporary military activities call for extremely high coordinative motor skills, especially precision, attention focusing and motor adjustment. No obligatory tests assessing those skills are presently used by Polish armed forces. The aim of this study was thus to set up a procedure of assessing running skills involving coordination and motor adjustment, possible to be of military use.Material and methods: a group of 68 male students aged 22–25 years (23.42 ± 2.1 years) volunteered to participate in the study. The following tests were applied: 15-m sprint, shuttle run 3 × 5 m, 15-m slalom run and 15-m squat (on all fours). The tests were applied twice. The sums of all 4 velocities served as the dependent variable; its total variance was partitioned into percent contributions of the standardised results of 4 running tests.Results: it turned out that the total variance was explained in 95% by the 15-m sprint and 15-m squat nearly by half the contributions of the other two variables being non-significant. Two indices were constructed: Speed-strength index (W1) and Speed-agility index (W2).Discussion: the proposed indices representing the speed-strength and speed-agility potentials seem to adequately reflect running-related features required of soldiers performing field tasks. Those indices may also find use in monitoring motor skills of team game players, including their selection.