NSCA-CPT Exam Prep LIVE Massachusetts | May

Join the 2026 NSCA Exercise Techniques & Progressions Summit in Springfield, MA, on Sept. 26. Refine cues, progressions, and training adjustments. Earn 0.8 CEUs

Key performance indicators (KPIs) are commonplace in business and sport. They offer an objective means to link data and processes with performance outcomes. Yet, their application in sports performance, particularly team sports, is not without issue. Here, we review 4 key issues relating to KPI application in team sports; lack of a universal definition, complexity of performance, drifting from on-field performance goals with off-field targets, and agency issues across different key stakeholders. With these issues relating to sports performance KPIs in mind, we propose a complementary approach to help practitioners focus on implementing the conditions that create performance environments and opportunities for success in a complex sporting environment. Ongoing process trackers (OPTs) are quantifiable measures of the execution of behaviors and processes that create the environments, cultures, and conditions for successful performance outcomes. This approach equips sports science practitioners with key questions they can ask themselves and their team when starting to select and use OPTs in their program.

In the last several decades in the United States, university athletic departments and professional sport teams began hiring sport scientists to support team operations. Many variations in sport science–related job titles and a variety of duties are apparent across the industry internationally. Therefore, the aims of this article were to (a) define sport scientist roles because they may be positioned in U.S. sport organizations, (b) demonstrate potential levels of application, (c) demonstrate how a sport science program helps establish a standard of care for the athlete, and (d) highlight overseas practices that establish professional competency for those in sport scientist roles. This discussion may be used to optimize organizational structures, enhance organizational dynamics within sport organizations, leagues, and systems, and used to develop, refine, or support certification and training programs in the United States. In addition to the discussion in this article, several job descriptions are provided as Supplemental Digital Content, http://links.lww. com/SCJ/A347. These resources may help decision makers construct job descriptions for their organizations.

From the 2019 Tactical Annual Training, Rob Orr, co-lead of Bond University’s Tactical Research Unit, explains how the backs of tactical personnel can be compromised. He also details the systems that affect the back and how to construct programs to optimize physical conditioning and reconditioning.

Great S&C coaches do more than design programs—they lead people to achieve their best and most consistent performances.

Completion of the following assessment will renew your current status within the NSCA Registered Strength and Conditioning Coach (RSCC) Program

Learn, participate and network with colleagues at (location) while earning CEUs. Hosted by the state, provincial and regional directors, this local event brings cutting-edge research and application to your backyard.