Physical Performance Rating

What is a Physical Performance Rating (PPR)?

A Physical Performance Rating (PPR) is a single summary score that reflects an athlete’s physical performance across all tests completed at a testing event. It is designed to provide a global insight into overall physical ability at the time of testing.

Importantly, the PPR is relative, meaning each metric is adjusted for the athlete’s age, gender, and playing position within their sport. This ensures the rating accurately reflects performance compared with relevant peers, not the general population.

The PPR is calculated using all available relative performance metrics (explained below). For example, if a participant achieves an Elite rating (defined elsewhere) for every metric at a given event, they will receive a PPR score of 100.

What is a Relative Testing Metric?

A relative testing metric is a performance measure that is normalised to an athlete’s body size, mass, or another individual characteristic, allowing fair comparisons between athletes with different physical builds.

This prevents larger, taller, or heavier athletes from appearing superior purely due to their size rather than their true physical capacities.

Example: Relative vs Absolute Vertical Jump

• Person A
  • Height: 160 cm
  • Jump height: 60 cm
  • Absolute jump height: 160 + 60 = 220 cm
  • Relative jump height: 60 cm

• Person B
  • Height: 200 cm
  • Jump height: 40 cm
  • Absolute jump height: 200 + 40 = 240 cm
  • Relative jump height: 40 cm

If we only compare absolute jump heights (220 cm vs 240 cm), Person B appears to be the better jumper. However, the extra 20 cm is simply due to Person B being taller—not because they produced more explosive power.

By comparing relative jump heights (60 cm vs 40 cm), the true physical performance difference becomes clear:

Person A demonstrates superior jumping ability.

Why Relative Metrics Matter for the PPR

The PPR uses only relative physical performance measures—such as relative jump metrics, acceleration, agility, and endurance markers—because these reflect true athletic capability independent of body size.

This ensures:

• Fair comparisons across athletes
• Accurate benchmarking within age, gender, and position groups
• A meaningful overall performance rating

Understanding relative metrics is essential to understanding how the PPR represents an athlete’s actual physical ability.