BEEP Test

 

As an athlete I hated the beep test, and now interestingly enough I make my athletes do it.   Judging by their groaning I would say they hate it as much as I used to.   Hopefully one day they will all get into coaching and then they too can have the last laugh!

Truthfully though, I don’t enjoy making them do the beep test as much as some may think.  But, I do think there is a tremendous amount of value in doing it. Value that I never realized when I was an athlete...
 

 

Let me explain.  The beep test reveals to all (coaches, parents and players) which of these athletes are in great shape.  I don’t work with softball players, I work with softball athletes!  There’s a big difference!  At the end of a long tournament like the Canada Games or a Nationals, you will see that the playing field is often even because of fatigue.  These are the circumstances where you want your team to be in the best possible shape.  That way, if they are the best team, then they can beat the exhausted rest!  And if unfortunately they are a poor or mediocre team (but in shape), then they give themselves the best possible chance to beat the teams that are better.

We play in the summer and frequently have to deal with heat.  Athletes who are in better cardio vascular shape recover quicker in the heat.  A very important detail when only some CSG dorms have air conditioning!  Also, the more physically exhausted an athlete is, the less responsive their muscles are. I don’t know about you, but if I’m trying to hit a 60+ mile an hour tiny sphere with a rounded stick, I want all the muscle control I can get!

The beep test is also helpful at a tryout.  It reveals a ton about mental toughness and character.  I can tell when an athlete is out of shape, but what is so awesome to watch is how they mentally try to push through that.  I hate when people drop out of the test before they get their first warning (they only get a warning when they don’t make it close enough to the line before the beep).  Or when they finish and aren’t even breathing hard.  That tells me they weren’t willing to push themselves past discomfort and towards a greater achievement (a higher score!).  That is an athlete that I am instantly less excited to work with.

The mark of a champion is the ability to win when things are not quite right – when you are not playing well, you are exhausted, or your emotions are getting the best of you.  During one of our practice weekends, the team ran the beep test first thing in the morning when they still had to practice and then play a game.  Before the day arrived, I wondered if I should be so cruel to do the beep test first, but decided that I could learn a lot about these athletes after 15 minutes of testing.  Furthermore, I was able to see how well they play in a game when they are tired and emotional.

There is an amazing story from Heptathlon Champion Jackie Joyner-Kersee and how in her last world championship she talked herself through an asthma attack.  She was in the 800-meter race when the attack started – “Just keep pumping your arms,” she instructed herself.  “It’s not that bad, so keep going. You can make it.  You’re not going to have a full-blown attack.  You have enough air.  You’ve got this thing won...Just run as hard as you can in this last 200 meters, Jackie.”  She had the mindset of a Champion and it carried her to victory.  It may seem like an odd example to give relative to our sport, but I can assure you, if you have ever really pushed yourself in the beep test...it feels like the closest thing to a full blown asthma attack...

So the question is not - do you have what it takes to become a champion, but rather will you DO what it takes to become one?

~ H