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The EVZ Developmental Performance Model™

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Performance is not defined by a single peak.

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It is defined by how performance is established, carried across changing demands, developed, and restored over time.

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Traditional performance testing often emphasizes the highest jump, fastest sprint, greatest bar velocity, or most powerful repetition.

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These measurements are valuable.

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They establish what an athlete is capable of producing.

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But peak performance alone does not explain how that performance behaves across repeated exposures, changing demands, developmental progression, or subsequent re-exposure.

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EVZ™ expands the evaluation beyond isolated output.

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The Problem

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Performance development is rarely linear.

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Athletes must continually:

• Establish repeatable performance
• Carry performance across changing demands
• Develop higher levels of output
• Restore previously established performance when needed

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A single peak value provides only one piece of that process.

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It tells us what happened at one moment.

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It does not necessarily tell us:

• Can the athlete reproduce it?
• Does it hold up when the demand changes?
• Can it be developed further?
• Can previously established output be re-attained?

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EVZ organizes these questions into a developmental framework.

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A Different View of Performance

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Peak performance establishes capability.

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Repeated and changing exposures reveal performance behavior.

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The central question becomes:

• How is this athlete’s performance developing over time?

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Rather than treating every session as an isolated test, EVZ evaluates performance within its current developmental context.

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The same athlete may require different priorities at different points in training.

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The objective is not to force every athlete through a rigid sequence.

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It is to identify what the evidence suggests should be emphasized next.

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The EVZ Developmental Model

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EVZ organizes athlete development around four interconnected phases:

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Retention

• Establish stable, repeatable output.

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Retention evaluates whether performance can be reproduced with acceptable consistency across repeated exposures.

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The objective is not simply to produce one strong effort.

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It is to establish performance that becomes reliable enough to build upon.

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Transfer

• Carry performance across changing demands.

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Transfer evaluates how established performance behaves when the task, load, environment, or performance demand changes.

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The goal is to determine whether developed capability remains useful outside the exact conditions in which it was established.

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Transfer can also help identify developmentally relevant loads or demands where performance remains stable or meaningfully changes.

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Output

• Develop repeatable, higher output.

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Once an appropriate developmental reference has been established, the Output phase emphasizes increasing meaningful performance.

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The objective is not simply to chase the highest isolated number.

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It is to develop higher output while preserving enough stability and quality for that improvement to become usable.

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Re-attainment

• Restore previously established output.

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Performance does not always remain continuously available.

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Training changes, competition schedules, accumulated demands, technical disruption, or other constraints can alter what an athlete is currently expressing.

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Re-attainment evaluates whether previously established performance can be restored when it becomes relevant again.

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The Developmental Objective: Durability

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The four EVZ phases are not the end goal themselves.

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The broader objective is durable performance.

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Durable performance is performance that can be:

• Retained.
• Transferred.
• Developed.
• Re-attained.

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Durability reflects performance that remains useful across time and changing developmental demands.

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The Central Principle

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Peak performance establishes capability. Developmental evidence reveals what should happen next.

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Peak output remains important.

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EVZ does not replace traditional performance metrics.

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It provides additional context for interpreting what those metrics mean within the athlete’s development.

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The goal is to move from simply asking:

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• How much can the athlete produce?

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to asking:

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• How is that performance behaving, and what does the athlete need next?

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A Practical Example

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Consider two athletes who demonstrate similar peak output.

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Athlete A produces strong performance but becomes inconsistent across repeated or changing demands.

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Athlete B demonstrates similar capability while maintaining greater stability across those exposures.

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Their peak values may look similar.

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Their developmental profiles are not.

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Likewise, an athlete who demonstrates excellent retention may no longer need retention to be the primary training emphasis.

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The more relevant priority may become Transfer, Output, or Re-attainment.

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EVZ helps distinguish those developmental needs.

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Why This Matters

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Real coaching environments require adaptation.

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Athlete readiness changes.

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Training demands change.

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Available equipment changes.

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Competition schedules change.

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The same training decision is not appropriate indefinitely.

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A developmental framework gives coaches a consistent way to interpret these changes without requiring a rigid training system.

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Training plans can change while the developmental logic remains consistent.

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Applying the Model

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EVZ guides coaches through a simple decision process:

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Intent → Evidence → Interpretation → Decision → Outcome

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Intent

• What are we trying to develop?

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Evidence

• What is the athlete showing us?

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Evidence can come from:

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Observation | Technology | Hybrid

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Interpretation

• How does the evidence relate to the athlete’s current developmental phase?

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Decision

• What should be emphasized next?

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Outcome

• Did the intervention move performance in the intended direction?

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This process can repeat longitudinally as the athlete develops.

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Different Evidence. One Developmental Framework.

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EVZ does not require a specific technology.

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Performance can be evaluated through:

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Observation

• Structured practitioner evidence when technology is unavailable, unnecessary, or does not capture the full coaching context.

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Technology

• Objective performance data such as velocity, power, force, time, or other measurable outputs.

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Hybrid

• Objective performance data combined with structured practitioner observation.

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Each pathway provides different evidence.

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EVZ provides the developmental context for interpreting it.

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Relationship to the EVZ System

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The developmental model provides the conceptual foundation for the broader Evans Velo Zone™ methodology.

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It is operationalized through:

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RPI™ — provides a retention/repeatability signal within the appropriate evidence context

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EVZ Wave™ Performance Diagnostic — evaluates how established performance behaves across changing demand and whether it can subsequently be re-attained

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Observation, Tech & Hybrid Modes — capture different forms of performance evidence

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EVZ Development Profile — organizes evidence across Retention, Transfer, Output, and Re-attainment

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Developmental Priority & Recommendations — translate evidence into the next coaching decision

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Longitudinal Tracking — evaluates how the athlete’s developmental profile changes over time

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Together, these components move EVZ beyond isolated measurement toward structured developmental interpretation.

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System Philosophy

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EVZ does not replace the coach’s training system.

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It provides a structured framework for evaluating and organizing athlete development within it.

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The coach still determines:

• Exercise selection
• Programming structure
• Loading strategy
• Sport context
• Athlete constraints
• Training methods

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EVZ helps answer:

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• What is the evidence showing?
• What does it mean developmentally?
• What should we prioritize next?

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The objective is not simply higher performance.

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It is higher performance that becomes increasingly reliable, adaptable, and recoverable over time.

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That is durable performance.

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Developed Through Applied Performance Experience

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The EVZ developmental model was shaped through the integration of:

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• Formal performance education
• Multi-sport coaching
• Competitive Olympic weightlifting
• Longitudinal strength-and-power development
• Performance technology
• Structured practitioner observation
• Applied product and methodology development

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These experiences were brought together into a structured system for understanding how performance develops over time.

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Applied experience. Structured methodology. Durable performance.

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