All things movement screening

Part #2

The second part of our performance testing is the movement screening.

In this part, we are looking at assessing movement patterns, mobility, mechanics, and force absorption across the body. We assess this through the overhead squat, overhead lunge and box drop and stick.

Overhead Squat:

We use the overhead squat as a tool to assess the squat pattern, thoracic and pelvic mobility and balance between the left and right side of the body.

Points of interest in the overhead squat include:

1. Weight bearing on the heel

2. Weight bearing evenly on both feet

3. Knees tracking in line

4. Good depth, without restrictions in movement

5. Upright torso

6. Maintaining high overhead position

Overhead lunge:

We use overhead lunge to assess the lunge pattern, single leg stability and pelvic stability.

Points of interest in the overhead lunge include:

1. Controlled lunge movement

2. Torso control

3. Pelvis stability

4. Maintaining overhead position

5. Knee tracking inline

6. Differences between left and right

Box Drop and Stick:

Different to the first two,

in the Box drop and stick we are assessing how your body moves when absorbing force.

This is important in assessing force absorption, landing technique, potential injury indicators and how all parts of the body move together.

Points of interest in the box drop and stick include:

1. Ankle, knee and hip force absorption

2. Tracking of knee

3. Difference between left and right

When performing these three movement screening exercises, we are scoring the repetition out of three. One indicating that there is a lot of improvement to be made, two indicating only a few improvements to be made, and a three out of three indicating perfect repetitions. Along with the score, we take notes of key areas of improvement, and integrate exercises and tools into future training programs that look at improving these areas.