Benchmark Scorecards

Progress you can read
right off a page.

Four Saturdays a year, your goalie runs the same nine tests in the same order and writes the numbers on one sheet. That sheet is how “is he actually getting better?” stops being an opinion and starts being something you can point at.

Get the scorecard Also see the 9 tests

Free. No email required. Print it and put it on the fridge.

One test, one year 5th grade
Wall ball, strong hand

Clean catches in 60 seconds.

41Aug
47Dec
52Feb
58May

Nobody had to feel like it was going well. The sheet said so.

What the scorecard is for

Daily training is hard to see. The work is small, it happens in a driveway, and improvement arrives too slowly to notice from inside it. The benchmark is the one day we stop and measure, so the year leaves a record instead of a feeling.

The only opponent is last time

There is no standard to hit and no chart of what a 7th grader “should” do. The number beside today’s is your own number from three months ago. That is the whole comparison.

Same tests, same order, every time

Nine tests, run identically in August, December, February and May. Keeping the conditions boring is what makes the change real rather than a difference in how you tested.

It is a record, not a report card

Nothing is submitted, nothing is graded and nobody sees it but you. It exists so a 9th grader can look back at what their 6th-grade self could do.

The nine tests

Every one of them runs off a wall, a stick, a ball and a floor. There is no gym, no equipment to buy and no way to fake the number.

#TestHow it is measuredWhat it tells you
01
Wall ball, strong hand
Hands
How it is measuredClean catches in 60 seconds. A bobble you recover does not count.
What it tells youStick control and rhythm with a clock running.
02
Wall ball, weak hand
Hands
How it is measuredCatches in 60 seconds, off hand only.
What it tells youWhether the weak hand is closing the gap on the strong one. This is usually the number that moves most.
03
Longest juggling run
Hands
How it is measuredMost consecutive catches before a drop. Best of three tries.
What it tells youHand-eye tracking, and how long concentration holds before it slips.
04
Line hops
Feet
How it is measuredTwo-footed hops over a line in 20 seconds.
What it tells youFoot speed and how little time the feet spend on the ground.
05
Standing broad jump
Power
How it is measuredToe line to the back of the heel. Best of three.
What it tells youLeg power — the push underneath a low save.
06
Plank hold
Core
How it is measuredTime until form breaks, not time until it hurts. Stop when the hips drop.
What it tells youTrunk endurance — what keeps the body quiet while the hands work.
07
Pipe-to-pipe shuffles
Feet
How it is measuredFull crossings in 30 seconds. Feet never cross.
What it tells youHow fast the crease gets covered without losing the stance to do it.
08
Drop-catch reaction
Reaction
How it is measuredCatches out of 10 drops, before the first bounce. Someone else drops the ball.
What it tells youReaction time from a standing start, which is the goalie’s whole job in one number.
09
Stance hold
Position
How it is measuredTime held with all four stance callouts intact.
What it tells youWhether the stance survives when nothing is happening — which is when it usually falls apart.
You’ll need: A wall Stick and ball A tennis ball A phone timer A tape measure Tape or chalk for a line A helper for test 08

Four times a year

The benchmark always lands on a Saturday, and the morning email tells you which one. You never have to track it yourself — the card just fills in over the year.

AugustBaseline

Taken rested, right after the summer reset, so the first number is honest rather than tired.

DecemberWinter

Deep in the build. This is where off-season work shows up first, usually in the hands.

FebruaryPre-Season

Just before games start, when the legs have had a winter of plyometrics behind them.

MayIn-Season

Taken mid-season on purpose — this is the number that held up under a real schedule.

How to run a benchmark

It takes about 30 minutes, once a quarter. Getting it right is mostly about doing it the same way every time.

  1. Warm up first. Use the regular session warm-up. A cold goalie posts a slow number and learns nothing from it.
  2. Run them in order, 1 through 9. The order puts the fast work before the tiring work on purpose.
  3. One attempt each, unless the card says best of three. Tests 03 and 05 get three tries. The rest get one.
  4. Write the number down the same day. Not from memory on Monday. On the card, in pen, that afternoon.
  5. Do not test sore, sick or straight off a tournament. Move it to the following Saturday. A tired benchmark is worse than a late one.
  6. Fill in the reflection page too. It is the second page, and it catches what the numbers miss.
  7. Keep the same card all year. Four columns, one sheet. The comparison is the point.
  8. Joined partway through the year? Start at whatever benchmark comes next. Blank columns behind you are just weeks you weren’t here.

Download the scorecard

Two versions, because the youngest grades test on a slightly different week. Pick the one that matches your goalie’s grade this school year, print it, and keep it somewhere it will not get lost.

Grades 3 & 4

Ages 8 to 10 · ADM FUNdamentals

  • Page 1 — the nine tests, four columns
  • Page 2 — the reflection sheet
  • Test weeks: August, December, February, May
Download the card

PDF · 2 pages · US Letter

Grades 5 – 12

Ages 10 to 18 · Foundations through High Performance

  • Page 1 — the nine tests, four columns
  • Page 2 — the reflection sheet
  • Test weeks: August, December, February, May
Download the card

PDF · 2 pages · US Letter

Print it at actual size, not “fit to page” — the writing boxes are sized for a pen.

When a number goes down

It will, at some point, and it is not a sign that anything is wrong. Numbers dip during growth spurts, during heavy competition stretches, and in the weeks where life simply got loud. A goalie who grew two inches since December is operating a body they have not finished learning yet.

The number that matters most is not on the card at all: it is how many days they showed up. That one only ever goes up.

Where the benchmarks come from

They are four days out of a program
that runs all 365.

The scorecard is free and it works on its own. But the reason the numbers move is the other 361 days — one session every morning, written for your goalie’s grade, their level and where they are in the season.

See the program

$29 a month · a session every day of the year · cancel in two taps

You will see it working

The same benchmark tests come back through the year, so progress is a number you can compare, not a feeling.

A Sunday overview for parents

Every Sunday you get a recap of the week your goalie trained and a look at the one ahead.

Built to the USA Lacrosse ADM

The volume and the difficulty follow the Athlete Development Model, not an adult program scaled down.