Paul Comfort is a Professor of Strength and Conditioning at the University of Salford (UK) and an adjunct professor at Edith Cowan University (Australia). Paul is a founder member and accredited member of the UKSCA and was a board member of the NSCA from 2020-2023. He regularly consults with numerous team sports and has authored / co-authored >150 peer reviewed journal articles. His research focuses on training methods to enhance sports performance and the assessment of force production characteristics to monitor acute and chronic changes in neuromuscular function. Paul is also co-editor of the textbooks, ‘Advanced Strength and Conditioning: an evidence-based approach’, ‘Performance Assessment for strength and Conditioning’, ‘Laboratory Manual for Strength and Conditioning’ and recently edited the 2nd edition of the ‘Developing Power’ for the NSCA

QUOTES

“So one of the things we need to know is not just the what's the maximum force generating capacity, but how quickly can you produce that?”

“Normally we do some form of maximal isometric test and we'd also do a ballistic test, something like a counter movement jump, and then a reactive or rebound type test, whether that's a 10-5 test, a drop jump, counter movement rebound jump. They've all got some limitations with them, but we'll do some form of plyometric and reactive tests so that we've really tested across that breadth of force production capabilities that people might get within sport”

“If you've got velocity at take-off, that determines your jump height so you don't need to report velocity at take-off if you’re got jump height”

“Power doesn't determine jump height. It only explains around about 50 to 60% of jump height and it can change. You can actually have a decrease in power with an increase in jump height, which sounds really counterintuitive.”

“Look at the published data but also then make sure, right, did they use the same force plates? Did they use the same software that you're using? With the software set up have they analysed the data in the same way?”

“Biggest thing is make sure that whatever you're doing, you're standardising what you're doing and you're trying to compare to data, which is as close to what you do in terms of your testing protocols, so how you cue the athlete, how you coach the athlete, but also how the data is analysed”

SHOWNOTES

1) Paul’s background in strength and conditioning and update since last episode

2) The basics of measuring force production in athletes

3) Upper body options for force production assessment including the ASH Test

4) Paul’s preference of the more common lower body force plate assessments like the IMTP or IsoSquat

5) The best metrics to use across isometric, ballistic and reactive force production assessments and the importance of understanding net vs absolute force

6) Considerations around contact/contraction time in different jump assessments

7) Paul’s thoughts on the use of force production tests for fatigue and readiness to train measures

8) The importance of starting simple and basic with testing and monitoring

PEOPLE MENTIONED

Greg Haff

Tudor Bompa