Strength Training in Aussie Rules: What's Consistent?

You know how important lower body strength is for Aussie Rules footballers, right? It's all about how much force they can apply in various tasks. With new tech, there are now many ways to measure this strength, making it tricky to interpret data. One method used is called Principal Component Analysis (PCA), which helps choose the best tests and metrics. This study checked if this method works consistently over time.Thirty-three footballers did seven lower body strength tests at the start and end of the season. At both times, the same number of components were needed to explain the data. However, the exact selection of variables changed over time. This means that while the method shows consistent domains of strength, it doesn't always pick the same metrics. So, coaches can still use this info to pick tests that capture different aspects of an athlete's lower body strength. But they should be ready for some variability in the metrics selected by the method.