Evaluating and analysing athletes' skills - OCREvaluating and analysing key skills
In order to plan an effective training programme, performers need to know the key skills for their sport and assess which of these are personal strengths or weaknesses.
The importance of evaluating and analysing key skills
All sports have specific skills which are needed to play the game. For example, some skills needed in netball are chest pass, shoulder pass, footwork, marking and shooting; some badminton skills are short serve, overhead clear, underarm clear, drop shot and smash. It is important for performers and coaches to be aware of these key skills in order to make a training programme effective.
One way to identify the key skills in a sport is to analyse a match live or on video and record the number of times each skill is performed. Coaching websites are also helpful for skills and coaching points.
To increase the motivation of the performer, it is also useful to understand why each skill is important for the game or position. For example the defensive skill of jockeying in football puts pressure on the player with the ball, denying them space and time; it also slows play down and allows other team members to reposition and mark opponents; it can lead to the jockeying team gaining possession from a poor pass.