JJ Shuttle Run

The JJ Shuttle run requires both anaerobic and aerobic energy sources because of the longer, 60-yard, 4 segment aspect of the run. Priest, Jones, Conger, & Marble, the creators of the assessment, claim, “Assessment of high-intensity activity patterns helps quantify acceleration and maximal running-speed and fatigue patterns”.1 The JJ Shuttle run allows investigators to inspect each of the four segments independently which can make evident where athletes are exceeding and where improvement can be made.

Setting up the JJ Shuttle run is relatively quick, but it must be set up accurately in order to be a valid and effective assessment tool. There is a starting/finishing line, four cones, and two laser projection boxes. The starting/finishing line of the JJ Shuttle run is determined using the half court line, a permanently painted two inch line on the hardwood gym floor. Using two laser projection boxes placed two yards apart, a laser beam line is positioned parallel to the half court line and is placed on the outer edge of the two inch permanent line on the home side of the court. The laser beam line should be between 20 and 32 inches above the floor depending on the height of your athletes. The laser projection should be higher on the legs of the subjects, but not high enough so the upper limbs will break the beam.

Perpendicular to the starting point are four orange cones that have a height of five inches. Cones one and three are placed on the visitor side of the court five yards and 10 yards from the starting line. Cones two and four are placed on the home side of the court five yards and 10 yards from the starting line. Each cone is perpendicular to the starting point established by a line that is 90 degrees from the starting line and halfway between each laser projection boxes, one yard from each box.

Subjects will run the JJ Shuttle one at a time. They will begin on the home side of the court. Beginning with their lead foot parallel to the starting line, as close as they can get without crossing, and the assessment will begin when they first break the laser projection. There is no signal given, each subject will begin when ready.

From the starting line, the subject will run to cones one, two, three, and four and back across the finish line where the final time will be collected. Subjects are required to touch every cone with their hand or the run is invalid. Suggestions to improve performance are to run in straight lines between cones without rounding the turns and to not run past the cones with the lead foot when reversing direction.

After a few experiences of setting up and facilitating the JJ Shuttle run, it can be an easy tool to include on physical assessment day for athletes or in physical education class.

1 Priest, J. W., Jones, J. N., Conger, B., & Marble, D. K. (2011, October). Performance Measures of NCAA Baseball Tryouts Obtained From The New 60-yd Run-Shuttle. The Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 25(10), 2872-2878.