ABSTRACT
Movement screening is a concept that has captured the attention of the strength and conditioning community in the last 10–15 years. Numerous methods have been suggested as a means of providing an impression of ‘movement quality’, such as the overhead squat, single leg squat and Functional Movement Screen; some of which have even suggested that poor motor patterning may be indicative of heightened injury risk. However, more recent literature has acknowledged that these methods may only be a part of the screening puzzle, considering these methods only screen under ‘slow-speed’ conditions. Such methods fail to replicate the forces and speeds associated with sporting performance; thus, additional high-speed screens may offer coaches useful insight to compliment the screening picture. Typically, such assessments have been developed in the form of landing exercises such as the Landing Error Scoring System, Tuck Jump assessment and single leg hop. With multiple methods available to practitioners, it is not always clear how best to screen their athletes. Therefore, the purpose of this chapter is to provide coaches with a battery of tests that can be considered with their athletes prior to program design. Understanding that the majority of athletes will perform a wide variety of movement patterns both bilaterally and unilaterally, it seems prudent to screen our athletes in a similar way. Consequently, slow-speed bilateral and unilateral screens have been suggested to provide a generic impression of movement quality, in line with common screens already used in the field. In addition, high-speed bilateral and unilateral screens have also been recommended to provide a more thorough understanding of movement quality, in respect to landing mechanics. The suggested screening package could be considered for healthy field or court-sport athletes and may provide important information on how best to move forward with an athlete’s training program.
