What are tags & when should I use them?

Your complete guide to tagging test types.

What are tags?

• Tags are essentially labels applied on top of the standard Hawkin Dynamics test types. These labels indicate a different test condition.  For example, let's say you collect CMJs with your athletes weekly.  If you have your athlete do a CMJ with no tags applied, the implication is that the test was performed with hands on hips. 
• Now, let's say that you wanted to see how upper body movement plays into their performance, so you decide to have your athletes swing their arms down and up when jumping.  This will undoubtedly result in a higher jump height.  If we don't apply a tag, this data sits in the same trough as your normal, hands-on-hips CMJs, and will likely look like an increase in performance.  It is for this reason that we tag - when we create and apply tags, we essentially create entirely new tests.  If you apply an arm-swing tag every time you test your athletes on arm-swing CMJs, those tests will only be aggregated and compared against other tests conducted with the arm-swing tag applied. 
• This is a very simple example but represents one of the most commonly used tags within the Hawkin system.  Tags can be applied to indicate any condition you'd like - you can have tags to indicate single leg jumps or loaded conditions (i.e. barbell 20kg, dumbbells 10kg, etc), and tags that indicate the intent associated with the test (i.e. routine monitoring, benchmarking, injured, etc.).
• When analyzing data, select tags for specific metrics in reports to include tagged tests alongside untagged results, all in one report. 

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