OVA athletes who identified for 2024 Team Ontario Programs, It's time to gear up for the essential physical testing phase of your athlete identification application!
The Team Ontario physical testing process for athlete ID is quite simple and should not take more than 5 minutes to complete.
Although physical testing results are not the only metrics used for the athlete identification process, it does help us capture useful data that will help us create the appropriate strength and conditioning interventions in our programming.
This will give us the ability to create provincial physical standards to raise the level of volleyball in Ontario.
Spike touch and attack velocity are recognized as key performance indicators in the sport.
Physical Testing Location, Dates & Times
The Physical Testing Station will be open on the following dates and times. Athletes should attend the physical testing during their event.
RIM PARK
April 5, 2024: 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM
April 6, 2024: 1:00 PM - 5:00 PM
April 11, 2024: 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM
April 12, 2024: 1:00 PM – 5:00 PM
April 14, 2024: 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM
April 15, 2024: 1:00 PM - 5:00 PM
April 19, 2024: 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM
April 26, 2024: 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM
April 27, 2024: 1:00 PM - 5:00 PM
EY CENTRE
April 25, 2024: 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM
April 26, 2024: 1:00 PM – 5:00 PM
April 28, 2024: 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM
April 29, 2024: 1:00 PM - 5:00 PM
Pre Testing Warm Up
Warming up prior to testing is extremely important in performing your best.
Just like warming up for a match, a well-structured warm-up can lead to better results.
In the context of volleyball, as we warm-up our body gets more efficient and more powerful in doing things like jumping, sprinting, and attacking. These physical skills are very powerful in nature and because of this, we need to stimulate our nervous system prior to testing to ensure we perform our best.
It is recommended that you warm-up for testing (unless you are coming directly from a match) for a minimum of 3-5 minutes. This should be followed by a small period of rest (1-2 min) before doing your spike touch testing.
You are free to perform your own warm-up, however we are also including a warm-up that you can use prior to testing.
We are using the R.A.M.P protocol for warm-up
- The time for the warm-up can be adjusted to be shorter or longer depending on the situation and how much time you have available
- (R)aise, (A)ctivate, (M)obilize, (P)otentiate
- You can perform this warm-up near the testing area as it will be made to be stationary due to constraints in space
| Jumping Jacks (x20) |
| High Knees (x20) |
| Reverse Lunge & Twists (x5 each) |
| Inchworms (x5) |
| Front Plank Hold (x20) |
| Tuck Jumps (x5) |
Physical Testing Stations
Standing Reach
- A measurement of the athlete’s vertical reach with one hand, measured by the middle finger.
- With the athlete’s shoes on, they will stand perpendicular to the wall and reach as high as possible with their dominant hand. The spot where the middle finger can reach and maintain contact will be marked and measured for the athlete’s one-hand reach.
Spike Touch
- A measurement of the maximum spike height of an athlete with a full spike approach.
- The athlete will position themselves at the desired distance from the vertec device and complete a full spike approach while touching the highest possible point on the vertec device. The athlete will then be given feedback as to where to position their start in order to achieve maximum height. Each athlete will receive 3 jumps with 15-20 seconds rest between each jump. The highest point touched will be recorded.
Attack Velocity
- A measurement of an athlete’s spike velocity.
- Athletes will be performing a standing attack. Athletes to face the cage with the leg opposite of non dominant arm in front. Athlete will self toss and perform a standing attack towards the cage. Athlete will have 3 attempts and their best result will be recorded.
Height
- A measurement of the athlete’s height with shoes off.
- With the athlete’s shoes off, heels, upper back and back of head flat against a wall, a flat object will be used to mark the top of the athlete’s head on the wall. The mark will be measured from the floor to determine the athlete’s height.