Weekend Anchor Learns Sanford SCORE

What's your score? It's a question Sanford Health has been asking local basketball players. That's because Sanford has developed a new test to measure athletic readiness specifically for those on the hardwood. Our weekend anchor Cat Clark, considers himself to be a rec-league all-star, so we put him to the test alongside former USF player Kelly Hubbard.

He may have thought the afternoon would be spent shooting jumpers or perfecting his crossover but Clark quickly found out, there's more to the game than just making it rain.

"It doesn't capture all the elements of skill and all of the mental preparedness that goes into being a good athlete. What it does take into account is how fast you move, how high you can jump, how quickly you can accelerate. Those are all really important attributes for a successful basketball player," Associate Director of the National Institute of Athletic Health and Performance Thayne Munce said.

After a few quick measurements, it was off to the races. From 20-yard sprints to jumps and agility tests, to drills that challenge endurance, the Sanford crew put Cat and Kelly through the paces.  

"An athletic ACT and a way to put numbers to a variety of sports tests," Munce said. "Then we use some of our sports medicine expertise to add in some additional components measuring biomechanics, measuring the way athletes move so that we can try and understand risk factors that may place them at increased risk for injury."

Now, because Sanford Health has tested hundreds of athletes already from high school to the college level, it was easy to see where both stacked up.

"Cat got a 404 which is about the 23-percentile among high school boys basketball players. All-in-all not too bad for someone who isn't training regularly and maybe only plays a couple times a week," Munce said.

As for former USF basketball standout Kelly Hubbard...

"Kelly did great. He got a 653 which among college basketball players puts him in the 82-percentile," Munce said.

Once you know your score or you see where you rank in certain categories, it's easy to pinpoint what you should be working on and that can lead to better results on the court.

"Trying to make it something that people become familiar with. What a good score is, what a poor score is and trying to just understand what we're trying to measure and how it can be used to improve their athletic ability," Munce said.

You can do all the drills by yourself at any nearby basketball court. The most basic Sanford Score worksheets and directions can be accessed online for free.