Aug 20, 2026How proactive screening can inform athletic training, strength and conditioning best practices
Proactive screening and monitoring in tactical units can inform athletic training and strength and conditioning staff best practices when applied and programmed appropriately. Combining athletic training and strength and conditioning to monitor and improve optimal human performance is a framework intended to decrease the risk of musculoskeletal injury while simultaneously improving an athlete’s own fitness level and performance.
When this data is analyzed, athletic trainers and strength and conditioning coaches can implement correct training loads, integrate appropriate corrective exercises and make the application to athletic development from injury management. When these assessments are made, a sound strength and conditioning program can be written for daily/weekly/monthly (microcycle) and yearly (macrocycle) programming.
Combining athletic training and strength and conditioning … is a framework intended to decrease the risk of musculoskeletal injury while simultaneously improving athlete performance.
There are certain types of screenings utilized on the sports industry side. These include functional movement screening (FMS), the initial assessment to identify deficiencies in mobility/stability and any type of asymmetries. FMS testing utilizes different movement patterns ranging from squatting and stepping to leg raises. Upon completion, these movements receive a numerical score and the lower the score indicates a heightened risk of musculoskeletal injury; therefore, corrective exercises are implemented for the athlete.
An additional device that is used in the sports world is force-plate testing, a biomechanical assessment that measures ground reactive forces. The movements that are assessed are usually squatting, balancing and jumping, such as a countermovement jump. These measurements provide athletic trainers and strength and conditioning coaches with actionable data to assess an athlete’s realistic preparedness for competition, explosive capabilities and their ability to return to play. However, they are not often available for tactical athletes due to time or budgetary constraints, for example.
So, what does an athletic trainer or strength and conditioning coach do to make these biomechanical assessments for the tactical population? The easiest is utilizing dynamic stretches, which provide the most “bang for your buck” as they not only provide visible and immediate feedback for coaches and trainers but also provide an honest assessment for the athlete themselves.
Dynamic stretches, as the name implies, indicate an increased sense of energy. They are active movements around a joint and its axis in which our muscles go through a full range of motion which will better prepare your body for your ensuing exercise and create enhanced flexibility. Dynamic stretches emphasize the movement of an activity as opposed to a singularly focused muscle and they increase reach and movement speed. Additionally, they boost a body’s core temperature and can assist in the prevention of possible musculoskeletal injury. Therefore, it costs absolutely no money for a strength and conditioning coach or athletic trainer — or the athlete themselves — to make an honest, personal assessment on their asymmetries and biomechanical deficiencies, as tactical athletes in particular need to efficiently move their bodies in all three anatomical planes of human movement.
Dynamic stretches emphasize the movement of an activity as opposed to a singularly focused muscle and they increase reach and movement speed.
To be ready for optimal performance, athletic ability and agility can be called upon at a moment’s notice. If an athlete’s body is not properly functioning like a well-oiled machine, then that deficiency could preclude them from performing their best when called upon. Dynamic stretches are one of the factors that play into assisting the body in the three anatomical planes through moving the body forward, backward, side-to-side, reaching, twisting and jumping. As an athlete becomes more comfortable with the aforementioned movements, they become more agile and flexible and gain more balance, therefore mitigating and preventing injury.
Additional screening that can be used in tactical populations is progressive overload or an increase in the utilization of weights. The increase in weights used not only can determine where strength plateaus for an individual but can assist in determining bilateral asymmetries, demonstrating one side of the body stronger than the other in such movements like the bench press. Another example would be an individual performing a squat or lunge and their knee caves inward. This is termed “dynamic knee valgus” and indicates weakness in the gluteus and or hips. Therefore, simple tried-and-true assessments can be made in tactical populations without the use of costly equipment.
Lastly, simple speed, agility, change-of-direction or plyometric drills are invaluable tools to utilize with any tactical population. These drills are used many times throughout the day in tactical populations, however, the majority of these tactical athletes have not trained in any of these drills since their high school or college athletic career. The irony is that these drills are necessary in the tactical population as their lives may be on the line everyday depending on how they serve. Training as a tactical athlete means being prepared for any and everything no matter what is called upon.
