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Water Polo Intermittent Shuttle Test (WIST)

This Water Polo Intermittent Shuttle Test (WIST) is a water polo specific fitness test, created by Iñigo Mujika, to assess a player's ability to perform repeated high-intensity efforts interspersed with brief periods of active recovery. The test is designed to mimic the demands of the sport of water polo, and is based on the running Yo-Yo Intermittent Recovery Test Level 1. Mujika et al. (2006) showed the test to be a reliable, sensitive and valid match-fitness test for water polo players. See also the 10 meter Multistage Shuttle Swim Test designed for water polo players.

• purpose: To assess the ability of water polo players to perform repeated high-intensity swimming efforts.
• equipment required: swimming pool, test cd, cd player.
• procedure: The test consists of a series of out-and-back 7.5-meter swim shuttles interspersed with ten seconds of active recovery. The shuttles increase in speed and the players must keep pace by timing their swimming pace with audio signals. The test continues until the swimmer cannot keep up with the desired pace.
• scoring: The athlete's score is the level and number of shuttles reached before they were unable to keep up with the recording. Sometimes the total distance swum is recorded.
• target population: This is a test of fitness for competitive water polo players. The test is suitable for all players (male and female) ranging from school/club standard through to international level.
• advantages: The test allows a whole team to have their aerobic fitness effectively assessed using minimal time and pool space.
• disadvantages: As with the running beep test, practice and motivation levels can influence the score attained, and the scoring can be subjective.
• references:
  • Mujika, I., McFadden, G., Hubbard, G., Royal, K., & Hahn, A. (2006). The water-polo intermittent shuttle test: a match-fitness test for water-polo players. Int J Sports Phys Perform., 1: 27-39.
    • SUMMARY: The WIST is a reliable, sensitive, and valid match-fitness test for water-polo players. Significant differences were observed among different standards of play and playing positions. Test performance was lower in the early season than the remainder of the season. WIST performance and match-fitness scores correlated for all field players but more highly for field players other than center forwards.
  • Frankie H.Y. Tan, Ted Polglaze, Brian Dawson, Comparison of Progressive Maximal Swimming Tests in Elite Female Water Polo Players, IJSPP, 4(2), June 2009.
  • Tan, Frankie Hun Yau. (2009). Applied physiology and game analysis of elite women's water polo, PhD Research Thesis, The University of Western Australia.
    • SUMMARY: One of the studies of this thesis compared the multistage shuttle swim test (MSST) and the water polo intermittent shuttle test (WIST), with a traditional incremental swimming test to exhaustion (IST, 5 x 200 m). The results suggest that the MSST and WIST can discriminate players of different competition levels, though the MSST was better at estimating a player's aerobic fitness and peak heart rate, and concluded that the MSST was more suitable than the WIST to assess the endurance capability of female water polo players.
• comments:
  • This protocol is similar to the running yo-yo intermittent test, which has rest periods of 5 or 10 seconds between running bouts.
  • You can create your own intermittent shuttle swim test using the team beeptest software, if you know the timings for each shuttle and the number of shuttles per level.

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Related Pages

• See also the 10 meter Multistage Shuttle Swim Test designed for water polo players and another Swimming Beep Test.
• read about Swimming Fitness Testing and Water Polo Fitness Testing
• about Testing for Intermittent Sports
• use the Team BeepTest software for creating your own beep type test.
• The complete guide to the beep test for links to more information.

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