Distance-based sprint testing has been the default in athlete assessments mainly because of ease of execution. But that leaves out one of the most important things in sports: efficiency.
👉 Watch the full demo here 👈
In sports, athletes need to go from point A to point B as fast as possible. They have a finite amount of time to make the play before the opportunity is over. Even if they can achieve a high speed, it doesn't if it took them too long to get there.
An in a sport like baseball, that's defense in a nutshell. Prepare for the pitch, react, get to the ball as fast as possible. Let's dive into Scott Cline's, MLB Strength and Conditioning Coach, route efficiency tests.
Simple Switch From Distance to Time
The traditional approach is to say in 10 yards, let's see how fast the athlete can go. But a higher speed might cover an inefficient route. That would give the athlete more time to speed up but not measure the ultimate end goal.
But we can solve that by flipping the variable. This is done by changing the "Finish Condition" from Distance to Time, controlling how long (in seconds) the 1080 Sprint 2 measures the rep.
So instead of controlling distance and evaluating time and speed, we control time and evaluate distance and speed.
Now we're evaluating what ultimately matters: in a specific amount of time, how far can you go.
The Protocols
Time
Infielders are tested at 1 second, relative to shorter infield plays like a groundball. Outfielders are tested at 2 seconds, relative to more ground they have to cover in the outfield chasing down a fly ball or base hit.
Positioning
This assessment is also useful because it tests an athlete's multi-directional speed. Making a simple square with 4 cones, by adjusting the starting angle/how the athlete is oriented relative to the cones, we get 3 different tests.
Then when you test both sides, that gives 6 total directions:
-Open 45° left and right: chasing a ball in or attacking at a forward angle
-Sideways left and right: pure lateral, like a line-drive straight sideways
-Closed 45° left and right: opening up to a ball over the shoulder
Each rep starts with the "pre-pitch," or small preparatory step defenders do right before a pitch. Then when the athlete hits the ground to simulate the ball being hit, they take off trying to cover as much ground as possible. A reference cone is useful not as a finish line, but a visual target to keep the athlete running straight.
Then head back to the start, change the start position, and go again.
What the Data Actually Says
Like most training data, it's just one piece to the puzzle. Scott combines the results plus his coaching eye, athlete feedback, and video analysis to help him make decisions.
The fixes tend to be small and specific, like not having the "pre-pitch" jump be too high, or there are too many steps at the start, or the hips aren't going in the right direction. They have that conversation, do it again, then see what the numbers say.
By evaluating movement from different angles and having data to support what they're seeing, it becomes an effective feedback loop.
As well, this becomes a power collaboration tool to bring everyone together. When an outfield coach says "he can't get to balls on his glove side," you can pull the data, check the film, confirm it, and work on it together instead of guessing.
The Data
Here are some reference ranges from Scott's own private data (not related to his professional organization) to keep in mind while you build your own norms:
These will vary by population and age, but they give you a starting point to flag who's well below their group and who's clearly above it.
It's also interesting to see no apparent trend between starting position and distance covered. Showing that there is plenty of individual variation in strengths and weaknesses out of certain positions.
Bring It All Together
The point of this assessment isn't to add another number to a spreadsheet. It's to objectively measure something that both athletes feel and position coaches see, route efficiency, that's difficult to quantify any other way. Then it gets turned into a shared language between the performance staff, the position coaches, and the athlete to support the development process.
Because time-based testing forces efficient movement and the 6 direction grid forces well-rounded multi-directional speed. For a 4-minute walkthrough of the live demo, click the video linked below.
👉 Watch the full demo here 👈
Published: May 27, 2026