Run for a distance (20 meters) change direction, run again (20 meters), then a brief rest. I favor the intermittent beep test for a couple of reasons: There are other tests out there, but all are variations on these themes: lab test, timed distance run, beep tests. More: Get Your Kids Interested in Soccer Through the FIFA Women's World Cup Intermittent beep tests: The pace gradually increases, but in this method, after each run, there is a brief (usually 10 seconds) recovery period.Continuous beep tests: In this method, the athlete runs continuously as there is no break.There are many types of beep tests (also called Yo-Yo tests), but they all fall into one of two categories: Advantages: easy to do you can test many players at once just need the tape and a "boom box." Disadvantage: tears the field up (at the turn-around point). The score is the total distance covered (number of runs x 40 meters). The beeps continue until the athlete fails to keep the pace set by the audiotape. There is a beep to start running, a beep when to arrive and turn at the 20-meter point, then a beep for when you are be back at the start line. These are 20-meter shuttle tests paced by an audiotape. More: 6 Reasons to Encourage Your Child to Run "Beep" Tests Disadvantages: pure endurance running, not soccer-specific running. Advantages: easy only need a stopwatch and people to count laps. The score is how far the player ran in 12 minutes. 12-Minute RunĪ team runs around a track as far as they can in 12 minutes. Disadvantages: expensive requires a lab and skilled personnel to administer and interpret only test one at a time not soccer-specific running. Advantages: the gold standard for endurance testing. Expired air is analyzed during the test and a statement of aerobic capacity is calculated as oxygen consumption in ml O2 / kg / min. Here is a brief list of test methods: VO2 MaxĪn athlete works progressively harder on a treadmill or cycle until they are unable to continue. More: The 3 Best Formations for Youth Soccerīut again, how much is enough? How can a coach confirm that their team's endurance is improving or that their endurance is sufficient for play? The best way to tell if a player has good endurance is to test their endurance. But as team sports go, their endurance is among the best because the game demands decent endurance to be successful. Also, the better the endurance, the faster one recovers from each hard run.īut how much endurance is enough? Obviously, the soccer player doesn't need the endurance of a marathoner, and along the spectrum of athletes, the endurance of the soccer player is really pretty average.