The Davies Test – Everything You Need To Know
The Davies Test is a physical fitness assessment for the upper extremity. It is easy to perform and provides excellent insight into upper body agility, strength, and stabilization in the trunk.
Who Should Do The Davies Test?
This is a dynamic movement assessment often used by personal trainers to find movement impairments during repetitive, and plyometric activity for the upper body.
You don’t have to be a personal trainer to make use of the Davies Test however. It’s useful for anyone who trains regularly and is interested in knowing if they are improving with their current training program.
Before performing the test, make sure you (or your client if you are a personal trainer) are able to do a standing push assessment with ease to ensure you can safely perform the Davies Test.
Some of those that should not perform the assessment are those that have a lack of stability in the shoulder, they have current pain showing up in the shoulder, or some lack of functional strength for doing a push-up.
This assessment should only be done if you are shoulder injury-free. Anyone who has shoulder injuries or lacks shoulder stability should not do this assessment.
To help you, go through the videos, pictures and procedures below so you know how to perform the movement correctly.
Summary Of The Davies Test
The Davies test is designed to measure upper body stability and agility. It’s not recommended for individuals who lack shoulder stability.
To perform the Davies test you’ll need a friend or a way to record yourself.
- Place two pieces of tape on the floor 36 inches apart.
- Start in a push-up position with one hand on each piece of tape.
- Quickly move your right hand to touch your left hand for 15 seconds.
- Once completed, quickly move your left hand to touch your right hand for 15 seconds.
- Repeat 3 times.
- Record your progress.
The Starting Position For The Davies Test
Place two pieces of tape on the floor, about 36 inches apart. The Davies Test starts in the front leaning / push up position with hands placed on top of the two pieces of tape.
The Correct Push up Position
The above image shows the correct push-up position to start the Davies Test.
The Davies Test Movement
Starting from the push-up position, perform 3 – 15 second trials moving one hand to the other hand in an alternating pattern (i.e. left to left, right to left, etc.)
Record the number of repetitions as shown in the image below.
References/ further reading:
Asymmetric resting scapular posture in healthy overhead athletes
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19030133/
A Comparison of Resting Scapular Posture and the Davies Closed Kinetic Chain Upper Extremity Stability Test
(Identify Kibler scapular position; Kibler scapular position classification; Faulty scapular position; static scapular positions; decreased scapular stability; weak scapular stabilizers; Kibler scapular classification)
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34123535/
