How do I run a beep test for a team?

Set up before anyone arrives

The course. Measure 20 m between two lines with a tape, not by pacing. A metre short gives every runner a free level. Give each runner a lane about 1.5 m wide, and leave a metre of clear floor behind each line so nobody has to turn on the wall.

The cones. Put a cone at each end of every lane, on the line. The cone layout tool gives lanes, floor area and a control diagonal for your group size.

The sound. This is the step that goes wrong most often. Thirty trainers squeaking on a floor will bury a phone speaker. Put a Bluetooth speaker at the middle of one end line, at ear height, and walk to the far corner to check you can hear the beep before the group comes in.

The scorers. Plan one scorer for every six runners. A scorer who watches more than six will miss a drop-out. Give them a printed list of names with two columns, level and shuttle.

The briefing, once, standing up

Say it before the warm-up and keep it short:

1. You run between the lines. On the beep, one foot must be on or behind the line.
2. The beeps get faster each level. Do not run ahead of them. Leave on the beep and arrive on the beep.
3. If you are late once, make up the ground on the next shuttle. Two lates in a row and your test is over.
4. When you stop, step out of the lanes, walk, and tell your scorer your name. Do not sit on the lines.
5. Nobody stops because the player next to them stopped.

During the test

Scorers watch the lines, not the runners. Feet missing the line are the thing to catch.

Most players drop out between levels 6 and 10, which is exactly when the scorer has the most to do. Write the name and level the instant a runner stops, before looking for the next one. If two stop at once, the first gives their name and the second waits one shuttle.

Past level 10 only the fittest players are left, and they are easy to follow. Let them finish. These last levels are the best data you will get.

Plan the time

Each level lasts 60 to 66 seconds. The end of level 5 is at 5 min 14 s, level 8 at 8 min 28 s, level 10 at 10 min 32 s and level 12 at 12 min 38 s. For a group, the test lasts as long as its last runner. Most squads finish by level 12. A full 21-level test takes about 22 minutes and almost nobody sees the end of it.

For two groups, count 13 minutes of running each, plus the warm-up, the briefing and the changeover. Plan 45 minutes.

Record and use the results

Write the result as level and shuttle, for example 9.4. The beep test calculator turns it into a final speed, which you can read as MAS, plus distance and elapsed time. For a whole squad, paste names and levels into the team report to get MAS, distance, rank, mean and median in one list.

Retest after six to eight weeks in the same hall, with the same speaker and at the same time of day. The test is reliable to about a level when conditions hold. When they change, a gain or a loss of one or two levels can come from the setup and not from the player.

What spoils a team test

• A course measured by pacing instead of a tape.
• A speaker too weak for the room, so players at the back follow the players in front.
• Scorers who write results at the end from memory.
• Players who sit on the lines after dropping out.
• Testing after a training session. Tired legs cost a level or two.
• Mixing results from two different recordings or two different halls in one table.