Today, sport events are determined by the giftedness of the athletes who play the game. The players' movements during a game are as gracious and precise as a written poem. As Gardner (1983) pointed out, refering to psychologist Sir Frederic Bartlett, skilled performance must all the time submit to receptor control. "They must be initiated and directed by the signals which the performer must pick up from one's environment, in combination with other signals, internal to one's own body, which tells one about one's own movements as one makes them (Gardner, 1983,p. 208)." It is amazing watching professional athletes in close performances. These skillful precise movements can make people wonder if these athletes have a special talent that makes impossible movements reachable to perfection.

As Henson (1989) said, there are six categories of factors influencing performance: physiological and biomechanical, anthropometric, biological, hereditary, psychological, and sociological (p2). All of these factors are very important for differentiating between normal and talented athletes. In the authors opinion, five of these characteristics (physiological, biomechanical, athropometric, biological, and hereditary) are a genetic outcome of hereditary from parents.

As a coach, it is very important to find out the probable potential in players, especially, in young athlete who are in the process of evolution. A football coach has to make decisions in choosing his players at the beginning of each season. Moreover, there are many different football positions in the gridiron, and each one has a different athletic attitude that must be filled out to play that position well. A coach has to chose the right player or players for each position. Each position has different characteristics and knowing the genetic talent of each player will surely help the coach, the players, and the team in achieving success. As a football coach, it is essential to have a system to test players to be able to know what position is more suitable for them.

More importantly, one of the greatest mistakes made by coaches is allowing an athlete to continue to focus only on those areas that the athlete is already proficient (Latta, 1993 p. 78). Tests and charts are very important to show improvement to athletes (Latta, 1993 p.78). It is a simple communication tool that shows athletes their strengths and weaknesses, and shows what they have to improve upon to become better players. Gardner, Stimson, Propst and Elam Berry (1994) found that athletes are happy and motivated to train hard and to improve themselves, but most of the time they do not know what to improve upon (p. 20).

The purpose of this paper is to find ways to test football athletes in a way to rightly place them and see if they have a potential for achieving success during their performances.

The author chooses Hensen's research as a primary source for his paper because he believes that track and field is a series of competitions that covers the most important athletic abilities in sports as running, jumping, and throwing. As a football coach, the author believes that physical abilities in track and field are closely related to football skills. Precisely, some skills in football are the same as in track and field events. For example, a football lineman's power and movements are very close to the throwers' movements in track and field events; it is a static leg power that starts from a low position and goes up. Moreover, the quarterbacks throwing movement is the same as the javelin's throwing movement. Sprinting in football is as important as sprinting in track and field events. In this research, they test track and field athletes in a 30 and 60 meter-dash. In a similar way, in football, the test used to measure dynamic leg power in sprinting is the 40 yard-dash which is 36.6 meters.

Likewise, the purpose of the author and the purpose of the researcher were the same. As Henson (1989) said, the purpose was to begin developing a scientifically rigorous method of predicting potential performance as well as the event [or position] that would be most appropriate for a particular athlete, and establish a method of predicting both the most appropriate event and the most potential performance in that event (p 7).

Henson (1989) added that expanding the testing accuracy of prediction could increase to a degree in which testing at 10 years of age could predict performance at 20 years of age (p. 8). This could be very helpful for a European football coach because normally, in Europe, football teams are built around clubs and not in the school environment. Each club has a younger team where players are molded for the first team. In other words, it is essential for the author to have a test where he can determine the potential of his junior players early enough to direct them in the right way for achieving personal success as well as the success of the team.

In addition, players can give more to a team if they play in a position which is more suitable for them. They also enjoy playing more if they can perform better. More importantly, it is a football coach's job to find the proper position for his players. As Ionov (1982) said, it is essential to identify sprinters [or players] at a young age so that they could be appropriately trained (p. 4).

As Henson (1989) asserted, it has been found that leg power is a primary determinant of track and field performance (p 10). Henson's (1989) goal in testing was to eliminate the subjectivity, and to develop a prediction equation that were both scientifically based and statistically rigorous (p 12). The players were tested in their "best three" performances on their event (Henson, 1989 p 12). This was the first attempt and, probably, the only one until today that has both validity and objectivity in performance measurement (Henson, 1989 p 12). More importantly, the combination of the tests and performance measurement offered the opportunity to construct a statistically based prediction equation for the purpose of identifying talent (Henson, 1989 p 12). These tables were also used for a performance criterion to designate elite athletes by defining them with one standard deviation above the mean in their best event (Henson, 1989 p 12-13).

The procedure was very simple. Each athlete was required to complete a warm up, an 800 meter jog (Henson, 1989, p. 13). After that, each athlete completed the tests in the same order, so that they did not disrupt the validity of the test and to have equal benefits from the test.

The author's interest in this test was to find a valid measurement for choosing wisely his athletes when he goes back to coaching football in his country. Poole (1980) found predictive tests to be useful in selecting talented individuals for further training, to predict future performance, and to place athletes in particular events. Hensen's test measurement, although it was made for track and field events, can easily be applied to football athletic performances.

Because the test scores were divided between sex disparity and four different categories of participants, junior high school, senior high school, college, and elite, the author chose for his goal to be male performance in junior high school and college. This decision was made based upon the concepts that in Switzerland and United States of America, the author normally coached football which is a only male competition. Moreover, in Europe, these sports are normally played in semi-pro clubs divided into two categories, juniors from 14 to 18, and seniors from 18 and up. Respectively, junior high school and college are the closest categories that can be applied to the authors goal.

In Hensen's (1989) research, the athletes were tested in different events, vertical jump (VJ), standing long jump (SLJ), five bounds for distance (5 bounds), 60 meter-dash from a standing start (60 meters), 30 meter-dash from a standing start (St. 30), 30 meter-dash from a flying start (Fly 30), stride frequency (SF), and stride length (SL). In addition, the athletes height, weight, and body fat were compared to achieve better performance.

In the results, an equation based on statistical technique of multiple regression was made. As Hensen (1989) said, this procedure is very much like predicting college success based upon high school grade point average and scholastic aptitude test scores (SAT) (p. 98).

An equation with the result of all 10 competitions was developed. But, a more efficient equation that would use just four of the 10 tests (vertical jump, standing long jump, five bounds for distance, and 30 meter-dash from a standing start) was also developed. This alternative equation was crafted because these four events were very relevant in determining giftedness in athletes (Hensen, 1989, p. 99). The author believes that this equation can suit his purpose because it is easier to perform in the Swiss football environment, and it is more accurate than the formula used in the 10 events.

Formula using 4 events: Multi-event points = 359.22 + 6.42 (VJ) + 3.58 (SLJ) + .61 (5B) + [- 113.49 (ST30)]

Using this formula, one can predict with a 68% probability that the true performance is +/- 117.8 points, and be 90% confident that true performance capacity is +/- 150.8 points (Hensen, 1989, p. 99-100). Also, this equation can be use for any athletes at any age and level of competition (Hensen, 1989, p. 99-100).

It is very substantial in how the author will apply this test to his profession. Players like to be tested, and the fact to have charts with their records will give them ideas of their weaknesses. As Latta (1993) noted, charts point out athletes strengths and give them tangible evidence of weakness (78).

Hensen's testing system is powerful because it can help find talent in players. On the other hand, it can also help find weaknesses in players. In the case of weaknesses, they can be improved with appropriate practice exercises. To find and improve weaknesses, the author needs to pre and post test his players. At the beginning of the season, the players can be tested to see their talents, but also to see their weaknesses (Gardner, Stimson, Propst and Elam Berry, 1994, p. 20). In between the season, intermedial post-tests could help the coach as well as the athlete see if there is an improvement in the previous limited performances. Negatively as well as positively testing before and after training periods can provide motivation to a players athletic performance (Gardner, Stimson, Propst and Elam Berry, 1994, p. 20).

Hensen's testing is designed to test leg power which is the most important aspect in football, but to be more complete, Hensen's test should be amplified if it has to apply to a sport such as football. In football, as well as in many other sports, there are different athletic parameters such as speed, strength, power, and agility (Gardner, Stimson, Propst and Elam Berry, 1994, p. 20). In Hensen's test, almost all of his parameters were covered for the lower body but none for upper body. Also, in leg power, all the concepts were covered except for agility.

To apply Hensen's testing in football, the author has to improve the overall test to compensate for certain areas that where not tested. Upper body tests must be introduced, and an agility test must be added for the lower body test.

A good and valid test for measuring the upper body power is the 'medicine ball throw' (Gardner, Stimson, Propst and Elam Berry, 1994, p. 21). In this exercise, the athlete has to sit against a wall with his buttocks about 4 to 6 inches from the wall. Legs should be straight. With the ball on his chest, the athlete throws an 11 pound medicine ball forward without using his body, only his arms (Gardner, Stimson, Propst and Elam Berry, 1994, p. 21).

The bench press is probably the best exercise for upper body strength. The athlete should put the same weight as he weighs on the bar then lift it as many times as possible (Gardner, Stimson, Propst and Elam Berry, 1994, p. 21-22). The lifting action should be performed safely and correctly. Someone should spot the athlete performing. The motion of the lift should be from full extension of the arms over the chest and then descending to touch the chest with the bar and viceversa.

The best test to measure agility is the 60 yard shuttle run or ladders (Gardner, Stimson, Propst and Elam Berry, 1994, p. 23). This test consists of running from one point and back for three times. To simplify this exercise, a football coach could use the yardage lines on the football field which consists of lines five yards apart. In performing this exercise, first, the athlete sprints five yards. Second, after touching the line with one foot, the athlete sprints back to the starting point. Next, he sprint for 10 yards and come back to the starting point. Finally, he sprints for 15 yards and come to the starting line. Totally, the athlete covers 60 yards (Gardner, Stimson, Propst and Elam Berry, 1994, p. 23).

Unfortunately, in these additional exercises, there are no related measures to predict a talented athlete, but these are just additional tests which a coach can use to see the weaknesses of an athlete, and not the talented. In addition, these tests can be applied to football in my country because they do not need any sophisticated equipment that can be difficult to find.

Moreover, these additional tests will help a football coach to complete the overall picture of a player as well as the players total physical parameters in performing football. For example, an athlete could perform very well in Hensen's test, but at the same time he could have problems in other areas such as agility, upper body strength, or upper body power. With this additional test, the author will have a complete view of players to be able to improve them if they are weak in additional areas.

In conclusion, these tests should enable a football coach to see future talent in players as well as weaknesses that can be adjusted to improve the athletes performance. We have to understand that physical performance can be easily improved upon rather than mental performances.

On the other hand, these tests may not be completely valid for a global prediction in abilities to perform because there are other important factors to be considered when general performance is involved. Psychological or mental effort, and sociological problems can destroy talent in players because the motivational drive is probably one of the most important factors in achieving the highest point of success in the actual talent of a athlete. Coaches should be aware that physical talent is not enough to achieve success in the game; enjoyment during a game and at practice time as well as to be comfortable with the people on the team are very important factors to make talent flow in your athletes.

To conclude about Hensen's test. The test was based on athletes' leg power, and leg power is the more important predictor of performance in track and field as well as in football. There were two important dimensions of leg power determined in the test, dynamic and static power. As Hensen (1989) described, dynamic power represents the ability to generate large amounts of muscular force while moving (Hensen 1989, p 100). An example would be sprinting in a 40 yard dash. On the other hand, static power represents the ability to rapidly develop large amounts of muscular force at a resting position (Hensen 1989, p 100). An example would be pushing an object like a football sled. From these explanations, the most valid way to improve running speed, which is very important in football, is by increasing dynamic leg power. On the contrary, also static power is important in football, especially, when blocking or tackling is involved. It can be concluded that a good combination of the two leg powers, dynamic and static, can be very beneficial for finding talented football players.

As Napoleon said, "There are only two powers in the world, the sword and the spirit. In the long run the sword will always be conquered by the spirit." Power, agility, and strength are important factors in an athletes performance, but when the task is getting tough, the spirit should be kept happy if one wants to use these powers to succeed. 

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References

Gardner, H. (1983). Frame of mind: The theory of multiple intelligence. New York: Basic Book Inc..

Henson, P. (1989). Talent identification in track and field.

Ionov, D. (1982). Reasons for sprint stagnancy. Modern Athlete and Coach, 20 (2), 3-6.

Latta, E. (1993). Chart an athlete's progress. Strength and Conditioning Coach, 15 (2), 78-79.

Poole, R. C. (1980). Discovering the talent. Women's Coaching Clinic, 3, 12-18.

Gardner, P. J., Stimson K., Propst R. & Elam Berry C. (1994). Sports performance evaluation for high school athletes. Strength and Conditioning, 12, 20-26.

E-mail: Giorgio Volpi