Flexibility Profile: Five Tests and a Radar Chart

Students rotate in groups of three through a battery of five flexibility tests and plot their results on a radar chart using age-based norms. The point is not the grade but reading their own profile and deciding which area to prioritize.

How to play

1. General warm-up with easy jogging and head-to-toe joint mobility; no test is done cold (5 min).
2. Explain the five stations and how to read each norm: sit-and-reach, back scratch on both sides, straight leg raise with a phone inclinometer, knee-to-wall, and seated trunk rotation with a dowel (4 min).
3. In groups of three with rotating roles (tested, measurer and recorder), each group goes through all five stations and records the better of two tries (14 min).
4. Each student enters their data on the radar chart in the worksheet or spreadsheet, shading the norm band they fall into (5 min).
5. Write down one strength, one priority and a possible cause for that priority (sport, hours sitting, old injury) (2 min).

Rules

• Each mark is held for 2 seconds without bouncing to count.
• Nobody pushes or forces the student being tested: the person stretching sets the limit.
• Results are private and are not compared out loud.
• If sharp pain or tingling appears, the test stops and the teacher is told.

Variations

Adaptations

• Limited mobility: pick the upper-body and trunk tests that can be done seated in the wheelchair, with a personal reference norm.
• Visual impairment: the measurer guides them into position by touch and reads out the marks for a braille or audio worksheet.
• Recent injury: works as measurer and recorder and only does the tests for the unaffected area.

Learning goals

• Run a battery of flexibility tests accurately.
• Interpret their own results with norms and show them in a chart.
• Identify priorities for improvement linked to lifestyle.

Equipment for a class of 25

• sit-and-reach box: 2
• tape measures: 6
• tablets or phones: 9
• exercise mats: 10
• dowels: 3
• worksheets: 28

Teacher tip

Print one norm sheet per station so students don't depend on you. Keep the charts: they are the starting point for designing the mobility program.

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