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It is important to conduct fitness tests for any athlete, to monitor adaptive changes following fitness training, and to identify potential talent and areas which need improvement. See our discussion of the Important Fitness Components for Paddlers which can highlight fitness areas that would be suitable for testing. Generally, upper body strength and core stability are major areas to assess.

Below is just a simple example of a suitable fitness testing protocol for paddle athletes. There are many other tests that you could use for testing canoeists and other paddlers, such as skinfold testing and tests of flexibility

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Tests

Shown here are examples that were used for canoeing testing as part of the eTID program. These links are to our general description of the tests. The tests of vertical jump and standing long jump were previously part of this protocol.

• Standing height
• Sitting height - to determine torso length
• Body mass
• Arm span - arm reach
• Bench pull - upper body strength
• 1.6 km run - cardiovascular endurance

Source of Tests

These tests were used for talent identification testing of potential canoe athletes in Australia. The National Talent Identification and Development (NTID) program at the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) involved an online talent identification tool (eTID). Through the eTID website individuals were able to submit results from fitness tests done at home, and if the results were up to a certain level the athletes were invited to be tested further and placed into a talent identification program.

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Related Pages

• Fitness for Paddlers
• Fitness Components for Paddlers
• Muscle Groups Used For Kayaking
• Anthropometry for paddle sports
• Poll about the fitness components for Paddling Sports
• about eTID - online electronic talent identification
• Fitness Testing for Sports
• List of Fitness Tests