A movement assessment is used to help us understand how someone moves and where there may be physical limitations worth addressing. That might include restricted mobility, poor control, weakness, balance issues or difficulty coordinating a movement properly. The important part is that a failed movement does not automatically tell us exactly what the problem is, it gives us a starting point.
What are we actually looking for?
The goal is not to find as many things “wrong” with someone as possible. We are looking for movement restrictions or compensations that might influence how well that person can train, move and perform. For example, someone may struggle to rotate through their upper back, control their pelvis independently from their torso, squat comfortably or maintain good balance on one leg. Those findings give us information about areas that may need more attention.
The next step is working out why that movement is limited, one failed movement can have multiple causes. Take an overhead squat for example, if someone struggles to reach depth or maintain a good position, it would be easy to simply say they are “tight”. But the limitation could involve the ankles, hips, thoracic spine or shoulders. It could also be a squat competency issue rather than a pure mobility problem.
That changes what we do next. If ankle mobility is the main restriction, we might address that. Perhaps they have enough range but poor control, more stretching probably isn’t the answer. If they have never really learned how to squat, they may simply need a more appropriate variation and some practice.
The assessment helps narrow down the problem, but it shouldn’t be treated as the final answer. Torso rotation can tell us something different, limited rotation may involve thoracic restriction, poor rotational control or reduced trunk strength. Again, the same failed movement can have more than one likely contributor. This is why simply matching every failed screen with one corrective exercise usually isn’t a great way to program.
How should the assessment change training?
This is where the assessment becomes useful, if someone has limited ankle mobility, that might influence the squat variation we choose. If someone has poor single-leg control, we may start with simpler unilateral exercises before progressing to more difficult variations. If a mobility drill improves the movement immediately, that gives us useful information that mobility may genuinely be part of the problem. If nothing changes, we may need to look more closely at strength, stability, control or movement competency instead.
What a movement assessment doesn’t tell you
A movement assessment does not diagnose injuries, and it does not automatically explain someone’s golf swing. It can identify physical restrictions that may reduce the movement options available to a golfer, but that doesn’t mean we can look at one failed screen and say it directly causes a particular swing fault. The technical side of the golf swing still belongs with the golfer’s PGA professional.
The same applies to pain. If someone experiences significant pain during an assessment, that is not something we try to “correct” with a gym exercise. It may require further assessment from an appropriate health professional.
The practical takeaway
A movement assessment gives us a clearer picture of how someone moves, where they may be restricted and which physical qualities might need more attention. But the score itself is not the important part, the useful part is taking that information, working out the most likely limitation and using it to make better training decisions.
Movement assessments should guide the program, not become the program.
