Performance Analysis

Rationale 

Providing feedback to athletes in sport is a crucial process when coaching in order to improve performance (8). Athletes receive certain amounts of sensory feedback from their own performances and coaches provide as much guidance as they can but incorporating performance analysis allows the process of feedback to be a lot more thorough. Performance analysts provide information to coaches and athletes that is either qualitative or quantitative (9). The quantitative information that is derived from analysis consists of data such as match statistics, that is shown in table form, on charts or in diagrams. This data identifies areas of performance that could require urgent attention, so the coach can then go to the video and qualitatively analyse why it was the case. The statistics supply the numbers and the video gives the evidence as to why those statistics are being presented.  

The advantage of having this type of analysis is it can give the coach and athletes a better idea of why some areas of their performance is lacking. In order for athletes and coaches to have success it is really important for them to understand what they have done to make them successful or unsuccessful. Performance analysis can be beneficial in many ways but specifically: 

For athletes:

• It helps improve technical and tactical knowledge 
• Improves their decision making process 
• Can improve their confidence 

For coaches:

• Helps them better understand what their athletes strengths and weaknesses are 
• Improves their own coaching practices and development as a sports educator 
• Allows them to review their coaching processes, what works well vs what doesn’t 

Watch – Hockey Coach Andy Smyth talks about the advantages of Performa Sports Performance Analysis 

Opposition Analysis

Performance analysis technology can be used to not only benefit your own team by monitoring and recording what areas of performance they exceed in or need to improve in, it can also be used to figure out weaknesses and strengths of opposition teams. The coding software and video analysis can be used exactly the same way it is used for your own team to analyse opposition teams and identify their tendencies or strategies. For example, you could code the stats of an opposition team in one of their games and figure out that they are a pass heavy team and they like to attack from the left side of the playing field, you can then use this information to create team tactics for the match to neutralise this strategy.   

Reflection

• What type of performance analysis best suits your club?

• What barriers do you need to overcome in order to implement a performance analysis program?

• What are some areas of your teams performance you would like to investigate?