Physical Tests in Football: The 6 That Actually Matter
The six physical test categories that matter for football, and why tracking them consistently beats a testing-day spreadsheet full of one-off results.
Quick answer
The problem
Most clubs already run physical tests. Few can see the trend.
Preseason fitness days, a jump test before an international break, a sprint time here and there. The testing itself is rarely the gap.
The 6 categories
Strength, power, speed & velocity, aerobic capacity, mobility, anthropometric
Each category answers a different question about an athlete. Skipping one leaves a blind spot; testing all six with no repeatable process leaves a pile of numbers nobody can use.
Strength
The maximum force a muscle group can produce against resistance. It's the base layer underneath speed, power, and most change-of-direction actions, so a stronger athlete has more capacity to convert into everything else, even though strength alone rarely wins a match.
Example: Benchmarked with rep-max lifts such as a back squat, deadlift, or bench press.
Power
How quickly an athlete can produce force, not just how much. Power shows up in sprint starts, jumps, tackles, and duels: actions decided in fractions of a second, not the time it takes to grind through a heavy lift.
Example: Tracked with jump-based tests: countermovement jump (CMJ), squat jump, drop jump, or single-leg CMJ.
Speed & Velocity
Acceleration over the first steps and top-end running velocity later in a sprint, plus how well an athlete changes direction under speed. Football is not run at one constant pace, so these are worth testing as separate qualities, not a single number.
Example: Measured with a timed sprint (30m, for example) and a change-of-direction test like the T-test.
Aerobic Capacity
The capacity to repeat high-intensity efforts and recover between them across a full match or session. A player can be strong and fast in isolation and still fade physically after 60 minutes without this.
Example: Common formats include shuttle-run or interval-based field tests.
Mobility / FMS
Usable range of motion at the joints an athlete actually needs for their sport. Mobility testing checks whether an athlete can access the range strength and speed require, without compensating elsewhere.
Example: Often screened with a functional movement screen (FMS) or joint-specific range-of-motion checks.
Anthropometric
Body measurements (height, weight, body composition) that give context to every other result. The same jump height means something different for a 15-year-old mid-growth-spurt than for a fully matured adult athlete.
Example: Typically tracked as height, weight, and body composition over time.
Why consistency wins
A repeatable test beats a perfect one
The test protocol matters less than most coaches assume. What actually makes physical testing useful is running the same six categories the same way, on a cadence a small staff can sustain.
| Testing approach | What usually happens | What a coach gets |
|---|---|---|
| Ad hoc, spreadsheet-only | Results are entered by whoever ran the session, in whatever format was open that day. | A snapshot with no reliable baseline to compare against. |
| Structured, repeated | The same six categories are tested the same way at fixed points across the season. | A trend line per athlete: is this player actually improving, or standing still? |
Signs your testing is losing signal
- Results live on paper or in separate spreadsheets per test day.
- The same test is run slightly differently by different staff.
- There's no baseline to compare a re-test against.
- Athletes are tested once a season instead of on a repeatable cadence.
- Nobody reviews test results next to load or wellness data.
Fractall workflow
Physical Tests: rolling out to early-adopter clubs now
Fractall's Physical Tests feature organises results across the same six categories, next to the wellness and training-load data clubs already track in Fractall.
Currently in early access
How Physical Tests fits a small club's routine
Create a Test Event: set the date, pick a group or specific athletes, then choose which tests to run per category.
Enter each athlete's results once, against the same six categories every test cycle, instead of retyping into a separate sheet.
Read results as a per-athlete dashboard column per category, with every past Assessment Event kept on record to review or correct.
Try Fractall free for 4 weeks
No hardware required, set up in minutes. Physical Tests is rolling out to early-access clubs now, so ask about it when you start your trial.
FAQs
Physical testing questions coaches ask most often
Use these as practical starting points, not universal rules. Every squad's calendar and staffing looks different.
What physical tests should football coaches use?
Cover all six categories (strength, power, speed & velocity, aerobic capacity, mobility, anthropometric) rather than testing only the ones that are easiest to run.
Example: A jump test alone tells you about power, not aerobic capacity or mobility. Pick at least one test per category.
How often should physical testing happen during a season?
Enough to build a trend, not so often it becomes a burden. Many clubs re-test at a handful of fixed points (preseason and after a training block, for example) rather than only once a year.
Example: What matters more than the exact cadence is running it the same way every time.
Is physical testing worth it for a small club without a sports scientist?
Yes. The six categories don't require a sports-science department to run. They require a coach willing to test consistently and somewhere to keep the results.
Example: Small clubs at the S&C coach level are exactly who this guide is written for.
What tools help coaches track physical test results?
Anything that keeps results consistent and comparable over time works better than a spreadsheet that only one person maintains.
Example: Fractall's Physical Tests feature is built for this, alongside wellness and training-load tracking already in the platform.
Do you need expensive equipment for physical testing?
No. Several categories (strength, power, mobility) can be tested with minimal equipment like a tape measure, cones, and a stopwatch.
Example: More precise equipment such as force plates or timing gates helps, but isn't required to start testing consistently.
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