The monitoring of valid and reliable tests is crucial in the development of athletes. Not only can tests record data of improvement in performance levels due to training but can be used to monitor the fatigue level may follow a the training stimulus being placed upon them in the weights room. The aim in monitoring the athletes is to reduce the chance of being in a prolonged overtraining condition. With the use of appropriate recovery strategies and alongside an organised monitoring plan, athletes can increase match day performances and try to prevent the chances of illness or injury occurring. It is then necessary to gather as much data together to provide significant amount of information about individuals’ current state. A batch of monitoring tests that can track player’s physiological, neurological and biochemical condition as well as psychological state.

A useful and reliable monitoring tool is to give players a subjective recovery-stress questionnaire, to fill out on a daily basis. This is a practical tool to monitor the psychological state of the player and also been found to be correlate with a change in training load to fatigue physiological adaptations (Twist & Highton, 2013; Davis, Orzeck & Keelan, 2006; Laurent et al., 2011; Elloumi et al., 2012; Vetter & Symonds, 2010). The questionnaire is designed to ask each to player to rate a certain number on questions on how they are feeling each day such as mood, fatigue or illness, appetite, energy levels, feelings stress, muscle soreness and motivation to train.  Together these numbers are added up to give a specific number for that day. However, when a week or a month of data has been collected; calculation of an upper and lower limit can be inserted onto a graph to begin tracking player’s wellbeing. This can highlight when a player starts to feel fatigued once the day’s number has fallen under the lower limit on the graph. Closely link this information on a daily bases with training data and session rate of perceived exertion and it can start mapping when players are having a negative response to training or how quickly they’re recovering from matches. Player’s training schedule then can be adjusted accordingly to prevent being in a non-functional overreaching state.

An additional test to monitor players fatigue is to test power output with a reactive strength index test (RSI). This test involves a plyometric activity of an athlete stepping off a 20metre high box and immediately producing a jump when they land on a jump mat. To then calculate RSI, jump height (mm) is divided by ground contact time (cm) (McClymont & Hore, 2003; Flanagan, Ebben & Jensen, 2008). This test how fast the athlete is able to absorb forces when landing and then producing it to leave the ground. This test is very specific to rugby players as the game involves players being able to transfer high amount of forces very quickly in a number of directions (Flanagan & Comyns, 2008). Again, test before each session to see if the individual RSI score have fallen below the lower limit marker of previous data collected. The test gives an indication of how ready the neural pathways are and how quickly they can produce a rapid contraction. 

Another reliable test to track player’s condition is to measure creatine kinase markers within the blood by taking samples. Raised creatine kinase levels have been found to be a strong indicator of muscle tissue damage and inflammation (increased cytokine levels) within the body (Gleeson, 2002; Heisterberg et al., 2013). A study found that creatine kinase levels were considerably higher after 6 weeks of functional overreaching compared to baseline data. However, with a taper week, creatine kinase levels fell to similar beginning readings before the intervention (Coutts, Reaburn, Piva & Murphy, 2007). The study findings suggest that the taper week was sufficient to allow the subjects to recovery effectively. Nevertheless, it has to be taken into consideration that rugby being a collision sport will cause players to have high level of inflammation markers (McLellan, Lovell & Gass, 2011). This test will not be able to differentiate the stimulus that caused the inflammation but gives a clear indication how quickly the player is recovering. Taking blood samples three times a week (example: Monday, Wednesday, Friday) can build up a player profile and show what condition they’re in pre and post-match days. For a valid test, samples should be taken around the same time, same place each day.