CPSS Key Performance Indicator Identification 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A sport scientist is designing KPIs for a powerlifting program. Which metric best captures strength development over a mesocycle?
- Session RPE × duration
- Relative strength ratio (1RM ÷ body mass) (Correct answer)
- Total volume load (sets × reps × weight)
- Heart rate recovery after lifting
Correct answer: Relative strength ratio (1RM ÷ body mass)
Relative strength ratio normalizes strength to body mass, allowing meaningful comparisons across athletes and over time regardless of weight class changes.
Question 2: Which KPI would a sport scientist prioritize to assess the acute-chronic workload ratio (ACWR) for injury risk management?
- Session duration alone
- Weekly monotony index
- Rolling 7-day vs. 28-day training load (Correct answer)
- Maximum heart rate during sessions
Correct answer: Rolling 7-day vs. 28-day training load
ACWR compares the acute (7-day) training load to the chronic (28-day) load, identifying spikes that elevate injury risk.
Question 3: In swimming, which KPI most directly reflects stroke efficiency as an indicator of technical performance?
- Best 50m split time
- Stroke index (velocity × stroke length) (Correct answer)
- Turns per lap
- Heart rate at lactate threshold
Correct answer: Stroke index (velocity × stroke length)
Stroke index combines velocity and stroke length to quantify propulsive efficiency, making it a sensitive technical KPI for swimmers.
Question 4: A performance analyst notices a KPI is trending favorably but the athlete's competition results are declining. This likely indicates:
- The KPI has high construct validity
- The KPI is not predictive of competition outcome (Correct answer)
- The testing protocol has low reliability
- The athlete is overtrained
Correct answer: The KPI is not predictive of competition outcome
When a KPI improves but performance outcomes decline, the KPI lacks predictive validity for competition, signaling a need for KPI re-evaluation.
Question 5: For monitoring hydration status as a performance KPI in endurance athletes, which field measure is most practical?
- Plasma osmolality
- Urine specific gravity (Correct answer)
- Serum sodium concentration
- Total body water via DEXA
Correct answer: Urine specific gravity
Urine specific gravity can be assessed cheaply and rapidly in the field, providing a practical hydration KPI without laboratory equipment.
Question 6: Which statistical property ensures that a KPI can detect a meaningful change beyond measurement noise?
- Intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC)
- Smallest worthwhile change (SWC) exceeding typical error (Correct answer)
- Coefficient of variation below 15%
- Standard deviation of the norm group
Correct answer: Smallest worthwhile change (SWC) exceeding typical error
When the smallest worthwhile change exceeds the typical error of measurement, a KPI is sensitive enough to detect real performance changes.
Question 7: A sport scientist selects force plate jump metrics as KPIs. Which jump variable best represents the reactive strength of an athlete?
- Peak ground reaction force
- Reactive strength index (RSI = jump height ÷ contact time) (Correct answer)
- Concentric impulse
- Eccentric rate of force development
Correct answer: Reactive strength index (RSI = jump height ÷ contact time)
RSI captures both height achieved and the time taken to produce force during ground contact, quantifying reactive or elastic strength capacity.
CPSS Key Performance Indicator Identification 3
A sport scientist is designing KPIs for a powerlifting program.
Which metric best captures strength development over a mesocycle?