Development and Validation of a Brief Self-Report Physical Readiness Test for Athletes

Abstract

The present study developed and validated the Physical Readiness Test (PRT), a brief self-report instrument designed to assess multidimensional physical preparedness among athletes across five domains applicable to all sports: muscle strength, endurance level, nutritional status, match/sport-specific fitness, and overall health status. The six-item questionnaire was administered to 285 Indian athletes (age range 15–24 years; M = 19.49, SD = 2.55) competing in badminton, kabaddi, cross-country running, and yoga during tournaments held at the Maharshi Dayanand University Sports Complex, Rohtak, Haryana. Psychometric analyses revealed acceptable internal consistency (Cronbach's α = .78 for the five-item scale), excellent item discrimination with large effect sizes (Cohen's d ranging from 2.01 to 2.97, all p < .001), and adequate corrected item-total correlations (r = .49 to .66). Principal component analysis identified a unidimensional factor structure explaining 53.4% of total variance, with all items loading substantially (≥ .68) on a single component. Convergent validity was established through a significant positive correlation between domain-specific assessment scores and overall perceived readiness (r = .63, p < .001). The PRT addresses important gaps in athlete monitoring by providing an efficient, culturally appropriate, and psychometrically sound instrument suitable for frequent assessment across diverse athletic populations and resource-limited settings in India.