Assessing Anaerobic Endurance
300-yard shuttle: A high level of anaerobic endurance is necessary to perform the repeated high-intensity
actions required over the course of a game. The 300-yard shuttle assesses a player's ability to perform
repeated sprints with minimal recover time and is a good measure of anaerobic endurance or capacity.
Equipment: Stop watch, a space at least 25 yards in length with a suitable (flat, good traction) running
surface, two cones, measuring tape
Set-up and Directions: Place the two cones 25 yards apart and designate one of the cones as the starting
point. After a sufficient warm-up (light jogging and dynamic stretching) have the athlete position
themselves at the starting point with the forward most foot directly beside the cone (Figure 1.11). On the
timer's signal, the athlete will sprint and touch the base of the second cone (25 yards away) and then
immediately sprint back to the starting cone. Continue this process until six round trips are completed.
Ensure the athlete touches the base of the cone each time. Record the time taken to complete six round-
trips (300 yards). After a rest period of 5 minutes, have the player repeat the process and average the
times from both trials to give a final score.
Figure 1.11 Assessing Anaerobic Endurance using the 300 Yard Shuttle RunAssessment: The results of the 300-yard shuttle should be used more towards establishing the
effectiveness of the off- and pre-season training program rather than assigning a score ranging between
poor and outstanding. The reason for this is that measures of anaerobic capacity tends to fluctuate and is
likely to fall during the period between the end of the competitive phase and the start of the following
preparatory period.