The article discusses the importance of reliability in athlete testing and outlines two key steps for a trustworthy assessment of progress: first, the selection of appropriate tests based on relative and absolute reliability reported in the literature; and second, the individual evaluation of changes in each athlete. Relative reliability, most commonly expressed by the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC), indicates the magnitude of measurement error in relation to the overall variability within a group of athletes. Absolute reliability, expressed through metrics such as the standard error of measurement (SEM), typical error (TE), and coefficient of variation (CV), reflects the typical amount of error expected when repeating a test. In the second part of the article, we present three methods for assessing measurement reliability and progress at the individual level: (1) a statistical model to determine whether a change statistically exceeds the critical difference; (2) the CV method, which evaluates whether a change surpasses the typical variability of the individual; and (3) the smallest worthwhile change (SWC) approach for judging practical significance. The article provides a practical tool for coaches to decide whether an athlete’s progress is real and meaningful.
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