Readiness Score
Software & Technology
A readiness score is a composite metric — generated by a wearable device, AMS, or wellness questionnaire — that attempts to quantify how prepared an athlete is to perform and absorb training on a given day. It typically incorporates inputs like sleep quality, HRV, resting heart rate, mood, soreness, and subjective wellness ratings to produce a single number or color-coded indicator.
What Coaches Should Know
Readiness scores are useful directional signals, not precise prescriptions. A score of 62 vs 68 shouldn’t change your training plan. But a consistent pattern of low scores across multiple athletes, or a significant drop from an individual’s personal baseline, is worth acting on. The value is in the trend and the conversation it starts — not the number itself.
Wellness questionnaires — simple 1–5 ratings of sleep, soreness, mood, energy, and stress — are often just as useful as device-generated scores, and they’re free. Many programs find that the act of filling out a daily wellness check — even paper-based — prompts athletes to be more aware of their own recovery status and more likely to communicate with coaches when something is off. The technology enhances the process; it doesn’t replace the coach-athlete relationship that makes the data actionable.
Also related to: HRV, Load Management, AMS, Wearables
Go Deeper
HRV for S&C Coaches: A Practical Guide
HRV is the physiological backbone of most readiness scores. Understand how it works, what it actually measures, and how to act on it intelligently rather than reactively.