Real‑world examples of strength testing: predicting injury risk in sports

If you want buy‑in from athletes and coaches, you start with real examples of strength testing: predicting injury risk in sports, not lab theory. So let’s talk about what people are actually doing on the field, in weight rooms, and in clinics.

Across pro, college, and youth sports, the same pattern shows up:

• Identify key muscle groups for that sport.
• Test strength in a repeatable way.
• Track changes and flag outliers before they break down.

Hamstring strength testing in soccer: classic example of injury prediction

Soccer is one of the cleanest examples of strength testing: predicting injury risk in sports because hamstring strains are so common and so well-studied.

A widely used method is the Nordic hamstring strength test. Athletes kneel, their ankles are held or fixed, and they slowly lean forward resisting the fall with their hamstrings. With a force device under the ankles, you can measure peak eccentric hamstring force for each leg.

What the research and real‑world data show:

• Players with lower eccentric hamstring strength, or a big left–right difference, are more likely to suffer hamstring strains.
• Teams that use Nordic strength testing and then add targeted eccentric training cut hamstring injuries significantly.

A 2022 update of the evidence around the Nordic hamstring exercise still supports its role in reducing hamstring injuries in soccer and other running sports. The FIFA 11+ program, promoted globally by FIFA, also emphasizes hamstring and hip strength as part of its injury prevention framework (FIFA 11+ overview via CDC).

This is a textbook example of strength testing: predicting injury risk in sports: you measure eccentric strength, you see who’s lagging, and you intervene before the sprint that tears the muscle.

Isometric mid‑thigh pull in American football and rugby

In collision sports like football and rugby, lower‑body strength is directly tied to both performance and injury risk. One of the best examples here is the isometric mid‑thigh pull (IMTP).

Athletes stand on force plates or a fixed bar, pull as hard as they can at mid‑thigh height, and you record peak force and rate of force development. It’s safe, quick, and repeatable.

How this predicts injury risk:

• Players with chronically low force outputs compared with team norms often struggle to tolerate high training loads.
• Sudden drops in IMTP numbers from week to week can signal fatigue or early overload, which is tied to soft‑tissue injuries and overuse problems.

College football and pro rugby programs now routinely use IMTP testing in preseason and in‑season monitoring. It’s a modern example of strength testing: predicting injury risk in sports because it gives you objective data without max squats every week.

Single‑leg strength testing for ACL risk in basketball and volleyball

Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries are the nightmare scenario in cutting and jumping sports. While no test can perfectly predict ACL tears, single‑leg strength testing helps flag athletes who are playing on a knife’s edge.

Common approaches include:

• Single‑leg isometric leg press or wall‑sit tests measured with a handheld dynamometer.
• Single‑leg squat strength and control: not just how much force, but whether the knee collapses inward under load.

Key patterns:

• A large quadriceps strength deficit on one side can show up after ACL reconstruction and is linked to higher risk of re‑injury.
• Athletes with poor hip abductor strength (glutes) often show more knee valgus (inward collapse), a known ACL risk factor.

Organizations like the National Institutes of Health and academic centers have published extensive work on neuromuscular and strength risk factors for ACL injuries (NIH sports injury overview). In practice, physical therapists and performance coaches use single‑leg strength tests as one of several screening tools when clearing athletes to return to play.

Upper‑body strength testing in overhead athletes: shoulders and elbows

Baseball pitchers, tennis players, swimmers, and volleyball hitters live and die by their shoulders and elbows. Here, the best examples include rotator cuff and scapular strength testing.

Common tests:

• Isometric external rotation strength at various arm positions, measured with a handheld dynamometer.
• Scapular stabilizer strength: lower trapezius and serratus anterior in prone or standing positions.

How this connects to injury risk:

• Pitchers with weak external rotators relative to internal rotators may have higher stress on the shoulder and elbow during the throwing motion.
• Imbalances between dominant and non‑dominant arms can signal overuse and incomplete recovery.

Major League Baseball organizations and college programs increasingly screen pitchers with these strength tests during spring training and mid‑season check‑ins. When they see significant drops in external rotation strength or obvious asymmetry, workloads are often adjusted before the next injury list stint.

This is another clean example of strength testing: predicting injury risk in sports where targeted testing of small but important muscles can change how you manage throwing volume.

Core and trunk strength testing in runners and field athletes

Core strength gets overhyped in some circles, but it does matter for injury risk, especially in runners and multi‑directional field athletes.

Practical tests include:

• Side plank and front plank hold times with strict form.
• Isometric trunk extension strength on a Roman chair or similar setup.

Patterns seen in practice and research:

• Runners with poor trunk endurance may show more pelvic drop and knee valgus, which ties into overuse injuries like patellofemoral pain and iliotibial band issues.
• Field sport athletes with low trunk extension strength may be more vulnerable to low back pain during high training loads.

While these tests are more about endurance than pure peak force, they still fit into the broader group of examples of strength testing: predicting injury risk in sports. Weak or fatigued trunk muscles can’t stabilize the spine and pelvis under impact, and the legs pay the price.

Grip strength as a global indicator of resilience

Grip strength isn’t just for powerlifters. It’s one of the simplest and surprisingly informative examples of strength testing used across sports and even in general health.

With a handheld dynamometer, you can test grip in seconds. In sports, it’s used to:

• Track overall neuromuscular fatigue in athletes during congested schedules.
• Flag sudden drops that might align with overtraining, poor recovery, or illness.

While grip strength alone doesn’t predict a specific injury, consistent low values relative to an athlete’s baseline can indicate that their nervous system is under stress. In combination with more specific tests (hamstrings, shoulders, etc.), it adds another layer to predicting who might be heading toward a breakdown.

Outside of sport, low grip strength has been linked with higher all‑cause mortality and disability risk in large population studies (NIH / NCBI review of grip strength and health). That doesn’t mean a weak handshake causes injuries, but it underlines why many performance staffs still track it.

How teams are using strength testing data in 2024–2025

The biggest shift in 2024–2025 isn’t a brand‑new test; it’s how data from these tests are used.

Across pro and college sports, the trends look like this:

• Baseline + change over time: Instead of chasing “perfect” numbers, staff focus on each athlete’s normal range and watch for meaningful drops or asymmetries.
• Integration with workload data: Strength testing is paired with GPS, heart rate, and session‑RPE data to see when load is outrunning capacity.
• Return‑to‑play benchmarks: For example, hamstring strength must reach a certain percentage of the uninjured side before an athlete returns to sprinting.
• Simple field tests over lab‑only tools: Nordic tests, handheld dynamometers, and IMTP setups are winning because they fit into busy schedules.

Organizations like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) emphasize regular conditioning and strength work as part of injury prevention, especially for youth athletes (CDC sports injury prevention). The high‑performance world is pushing that one step further: not just training strength, but measuring it and adjusting training based on the results.

In other words, the best examples of strength testing: predicting injury risk in sports are not one‑off screenings at the start of the season. They’re bite‑sized check‑ins baked into the training calendar.

Putting strength testing into your own program

You don’t need a pro budget to use the same logic.

A practical setup for a high school, small college, or club team might include:

• Hamstring testing: Nordic strength test or manual resistance with a handheld dynamometer once every 4–6 weeks.
• Single‑leg strength checks: Simple single‑leg squat or split‑squat strength and control, recorded on video or with a dynamometer.
• Shoulder testing for overhead athletes: Isometric external rotation and scapular strength checks pre‑season and mid‑season.
• Core endurance tests: Side plank and front plank times at the start of each training block.

Then you track:

• Left vs. right differences.
• Changes compared with each athlete’s baseline.
• How scores move when training volume spikes.

If someone’s strength drops sharply, or if one side keeps lagging, that’s your cue to:

• Adjust their workload.
• Add targeted strength work.
• Involve a medical professional if things don’t improve.

That’s the real value behind all these examples of strength testing: predicting injury risk in sports. The tests are only as good as the decisions you make afterward.

Limitations: why strength testing isn’t a crystal ball

It’s tempting to think that if you find the right test, you can predict every injury. Reality is messier.

Strength testing has limitations:

• Injuries are multifactorial: load, sleep, nutrition, stress, previous injuries, and biomechanics all matter.
• Some injuries are contact‑related and less influenced by strength (for example, a player getting rolled up from behind).
• Data quality varies: poor testing technique or inconsistent effort can distort results.

That’s why organizations like Mayo Clinic and NIH frame strength as one piece of overall musculoskeletal health, not the whole picture (Mayo Clinic sports injury overview).

Used well, though, the best examples of strength testing help you:

• Spot weak links early.
• Individualize training loads.
• Support smarter return‑to‑play decisions.

They don’t predict the future with certainty, but they dramatically improve the odds you’ll catch problems before they explode.

FAQ: examples of strength testing and injury risk

Q: What are some common examples of strength testing used to predict injury risk in sports?
Common examples of strength testing: predicting injury risk in sports include the Nordic hamstring strength test in soccer and track, isometric mid‑thigh pull in football and rugby, single‑leg quadriceps and hip strength testing for ACL risk in basketball and volleyball, rotator cuff and scapular strength tests in baseball and tennis, core endurance tests like the side plank in runners, and grip strength testing as a quick global indicator of fatigue or resilience.

Q: Can you give an example of strength testing in youth athletes?
A practical example of strength testing in youth sports is using simple hamstring and quadriceps strength checks with a handheld dynamometer at the start of each season. Coaches or athletic trainers can look for big left–right differences and add extra strength work or modify training for athletes who lag behind, especially in sports that involve sprinting and cutting.

Q: How often should strength testing be done to help predict injury risk?
Most teams benefit from testing at least at three points: pre‑season, mid‑season, and late season. High‑performance programs may test key areas (like hamstrings or shoulders) every 4–6 weeks, or even weekly for short, low‑fatigue tests. The goal is to track trends, not to test so often that it disrupts training.

Q: Are strength tests alone enough to predict who will get injured?
No. Strength tests improve your ability to spot risk but don’t tell the whole story. They should be combined with workload monitoring, movement assessments, injury history, and basic wellness data (sleep, soreness, stress). Think of strength testing as one strong signal among several, not the only one.

Q: Do I need expensive equipment to use these examples of strength testing?
Not necessarily. While force plates and high‑end dynamometers are helpful, many examples of strength testing: predicting injury risk in sports can be done with affordable handheld dynamometers, simple timing (for planks), and consistent movement standards. The key is repeatability and tracking changes over time, not fancy tech for its own sake.