August 23,
2004
The future
of the "Beep" test as a fitness standard for the S-League could be in
doubt after it was revealed that the top 5 teams in the S-league failed to meet
the mark in mid-season.
In a
"Beep" test, each level contains a series of 12 shuttle runs of 20m.
Runners must complete each before a beep sounds. With each level, the interval
between beeps decreases so the shuttle runs get faster.
All 5
teams – Tampines Rovers, Home United, Young Lions, Woodlands
However
there are critics who condemned the current "Beep" test as a waste of time
& nobody is more vocal about it than Home United coach
Steve Darby.
To Darby
the 'Beep' test is only 1 component of fitness & it is aerobic fitness
while football involves more speed & strength. Therefore the major thing in
the game is the ability to repeat speed as football is a stop-start game so one
cannot run continuously for 90 minutes & the 'Beep' test does not reflect
that.
Having
worked with players like Mark Viduka he is in no
doubt Mark Viduka would be fined if he played in
Also
another fact which anger him is that the Level 13 shuttle 9 standard is taken
across a squad average which means that results can also be skewed drastically
by a couple of players with high or low levels.
The
Englishman said with the averages, there are so many variables that it is very
difficult to monitor the team's fitness
So in
the end, he believe the players' fitness should be the responsibility of the
clubs because if they are not fit, they are not going to get into the team.
S-League
CEO Chan King Fook seem to agree with that view as he
reveals discussions are under way to incorporate a wider range of tests for
football fitness.
Chan
said they are in consultation with the coaches to include other tests besides
the 'Beep' test but he knows there is no perfect test for football fitness
anywhere in the world.