What are typical Yo-Yo IR1 scores by age, from U10 to adults?
No published norm covers every age, but several studies report Yo-Yo IR1 averages by age group. In 355 Irish sub-elite Gaelic football players, the mean rises from 885 m at U13 to 1,595 m at U16 and 2,365 m in seniors. Qatari academy players aged 10 to 12 average 797 to 898 m. Belgian high-level soccer players average 2,024 m at U15 and 2,404 m at U17. These are sample means, not norms.
Why there is no single table
Scores rise with age, but no open study follows the same kind of player from U10 to adults on the Yo-Yo IR1. What exists is a set of samples: one academy, one country, one sport, a few dozen players. Each table below is one study. Read your score against the sample closest to your own sport and level, and do not join the rows of two tables into one curve.
All figures are total distance in metres, as mean ± standard deviation. The standard deviation shows how widely the players of a group spread around its mean.
U10 to U12: a Qatari academy
Forty-five schoolboys from a soccer academy in Doha, with at least three years of playing and 2 to 3 sessions a week. They were tested on an outdoor pitch between January and March 2021.
| Age group | Players | Yo-Yo IR1 (m) |
|---|---|---|
| U10 | 15 | 797 ± 76 |
| U11 | 14 | 837 ± 186 |
| U12 | 16 | 898 ± 116 |
The authors found no significant difference between the three age groups on this test.
U13 to seniors: Irish Gaelic football
Roe and Malone tested 355 male players from division one Gaelic football teams, a sport with running demands close to soccer. The abstract gives these means. The U14 and U15 figures and the size of each group are only in the full text, which we could not read.
| Age group | Yo-Yo IR1 (m) |
|---|---|
| U13 | 885 ± 347 |
| U16 | 1,595 ± 380 |
| Minor (U18) | 1,206 ± 327 |
| U21 | 1,585 ± 445 |
| Senior | 2,365 ± 489 |
The minor group scored lower than the U16 group. That is how the abstract reports it, and this page does not smooth it out.
U15 to U19: a Belgian professional club
Deprez and colleagues tested high-level youth players from one professional Belgian club three times in three weeks, on artificial turf, in November 2013. Only players who completed all three tests were kept.
| Age group | Players | Yo-Yo IR1 (m) |
|---|---|---|
| U15 | 22 | 2,024 ± 470 |
| U17 | 10 | 2,404 ± 347 |
| U19 | 4 | 2,547 ± 337 |
The U19 group has four players, too few to describe an age group.
14 to 18: a Hungarian academy
Soós and colleagues tested 81 players from a top Hungarian academy in January and February 2022, during the off-season. Goalkeepers are included, and they scored lower than outfield players.
| Age | Players | Yo-Yo IR1 (m) |
|---|---|---|
| 14 | 20 | 1,889 ± 393.4 |
| 15 | 16 | 1,932.5 ± 269.2 |
| 16 | 22 | 2,187.3 ± 459.0 |
| 17 to 18 | 23 | 2,495.7 ± 653.4 |
Adults: soccer by level of play
For adults, Bangsbo’s 2008 review groups soccer players by level rather than by age. Men: 2,420 m for top-class players (25 players), 2,190 m for elite (71), 2,030 m for sub-elite (89) and 1,810 m for moderately trained players (29). Women: 1,600 m (44), 1,360 m (74) and 1,160 m (63) for top-class, elite and sub-elite players. The page on Yo-Yo IR1 scores for soccer players shows the level each figure reaches.
Girls and women by age
We found no open series of Yo-Yo IR1 scores for girls by age group. The only female figures here are the adult ones by level of play.
Using these figures
The samples differ by country, sport, level, surface and season, and the gap between them is as large as the gap between ages. A U15 player at 1,900 m is close to the Hungarian mean at 15 and below the Belgian mean at U15. Both comparisons are correct, and neither is a norm.
What says most is the same player tested again on the same surface. To turn a distance into a level and shuttle, use the Yo-Yo IR1 conversion table. The protocol is on the Yo-Yo IR1 test page.
Go further
Frequently asked questions
What is a good Yo-Yo IR1 score for a 13-year-old?
The only open U13 figure we found is 885 ± 347 m, in Irish sub-elite Gaelic football players. The spread is wide: one standard deviation either side runs from about 540 to 1,230 m. Compare a 13-year-old with that sample only if the sport and level are close.
What Yo-Yo IR1 score does a U15 soccer player get?
It depends on the club. Belgian players from one professional academy averaged 2,024 m at U15. Hungarian academy players averaged 1,889 m at 14 and 1,932.5 m at 15. Both are high-level groups, so a club squad will usually sit lower.
Do children under 12 run the same Yo-Yo test?
Some studies use the IR1 from age 10, as in the Qatari sample here. Others use adapted versions for children, such as the Yo-Yo IR1 children's test. Distances from an adapted version cannot be read against IR1 figures.
Sources
- Hermassi S. et al., “Differences in body composition, static balance, field test performance, and academic achievement in 10-12-year-old soccer players”, Frontiers in Physiology, 2023 — Table 5, Yo-Yo IR1 mean ± SD for U10, U11 and U12, checked 2026-10-10
- Roe M., Malone S., “Yo-Yo intermittent recovery test performance in subelite Gaelic football players from under thirteen to senior age groups”, Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 2016; 30(11): 3187-3193 — abstract; U14, U15 and group sizes are only in the paywalled full text, checked 2026-10-10
- Deprez D. et al., “The Yo-Yo intermittent recovery test level 1 is reliable in young high-level soccer players”, Biology of Sport, 2014 — abstract and Table 1; the results text gives 2,475 ± 347 m for U19, the abstract and Table 1 give 2,547 ± 337 m, used here; checked 2026-10-10
- Soós I. et al., “Anthropometric and Physiological Profiles of Hungarian Youth Male Soccer Players of Varying Ages and Playing Positions”, International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 2022 — Table 1b, Yo-Yo IR1 mean ± SD by age category, checked 2026-10-10
- Bangsbo J., Iaia F. M., Krustrup P., “The Yo-Yo Intermittent Recovery Test: a useful tool for evaluation of physical performance in intermittent sports”, Sports Medicine, 2008; 38(1): 37-51 — adult soccer means by playing level, checked 2026-10-10
- Póvoas S. C. et al., “Reliability and validity of Yo-Yo tests in 9- to 16-year-old football players and matched non-sports active schoolboys”, European Journal of Sport Science, 2016 — abstract; shows that some youth studies use age-adapted Yo-Yo tests rather than the IR1, checked 2026-10-10