Force Plate Assessment Before Arduous Military Training: Expert-Informed Recommendations for Test and Metric Selection | PSCJ | UKSCA

PSCJ

UKSCA's peer-reviewed Professional Strength and Conditioning Journal

Force Plate Assessment Before Arduous Military Training: Expert-Informed Recommendations for Test and Metric Selection

16/10/2026

Lead author:
Peter Ladlow
Co-authors:
NJ Ripley, DV Cabarkapa, D Cabarkapa, DW Chapman, MC Geneau, G Haff , LP James, P Jones, JP Lake, CJ Sole, A Turner, M D Vecchis, N Masters, C Coussens , R Holton, RJ Coppack, C Suffield, P Comfort.

ABSTRACT

Physically arduous military training courses impose substantial physiological and musculoskeletal demands, with course failure commonly attributable to injury, voluntary withdrawal or failure to meet required performance standards. Conventional field-based assessments provide valuable measures of physical performance but offer limited insight into the neuromuscular characteristics underpinning performance. Force plate assessment may complement existing screening by quantifying the magnitude, timing and strategy of force production. However, substantial heterogeneity exists in military force plate testing and metric selection. This study therefore aimed to identify an expert-informed minimum set of force plate tests and metrics to characterise neuromuscular performance before personnel undertake physically arduous military training courses.

View PDF: Ladlow.pdf

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