PLAYER ASSESSMENT ESSENTIALS

A query was posted in one of the many coaching Facebook pages I'm in asking about individual game review/feedback templates so I thought I'd have a crack at one quickly.

Now where 99% of these types of things (assessments) look at the end result, my style is looking at the process of how you got there.

Why I hear the ether ask?

Because there a hundreds of variables that can dictate skill level and thus output on any given day some of which is luck, opposition and weather conditions but if you land yourself in an elimination final with the umpires against you against a team you haven't beaten all year on a shitty August Saturday in Melbourne, then what's worked for you in perforct conditions will not work for you today and the processes you use to build your results during the season is all that you're left with.

I also think that player assessments of any sort are more about pinpointing weakness then strengths which I'm not big on either - especially at local and junior levels of football.

I would make them available for sure but only to those who want them as they'll respond to them better then those who don't want to be rated, but are anyway, causing all sorts of psychological stress that they carry with them in games and at training.

So as always I will base the assessment on the 4 co-actives of sport:

1. Physical
2. Psychological
3. Tactical
4. Technical

So as not to make this information too dense to the player you need to ask questions that will hopefully provide answers and thus data, you can use going forward.

You could track attendance but what if that kid has a part time job, does 2 other sports and a heap of homework?

A coach will never say anything negative towards them about those types of things but they do affect 1 aspect of the assessment so what else can you do with that data with that player - or is it just not worth taking?

Here's what I'd ask for each co-active.

PHYSICAL

1. How did you feel pre-game? (take pre-game if possible)
2. How do you feel in game? (take in-game if possible, half or 3/4 time)
3. What was your personal rate of perceived exertion for the full game? (take straight after game)
4. How do you feel post game? (take about an hour post-game)

PSYCHOLOGICAL

1. Rate your sleep quality of the past 3 nights (take pre-game)
2. Rate your stress level away from football for the past 3 - 4 days (take pre-game)
3. Rate your in game stress levels (take straight after game)
4. How stable were your stress levels during the entire game? (take about an hour post-game)

TACTICAL

1. Were you able to stick the coaches/teams game model and give examples of how and when?
2. How effectively were you able to play your specific role/s during the game and give examples of how and when?
3. Were you able to get to dangerous positions both offensively and defensively and give examples of how and when?
4. Did you beat your man on the day and provide examples of how and when?
5. Were you effective in communicating with your teammates throughout the game and provide examples of how?

TECHNICAL

1. Grade your skill level and decision making during closed skill game play and provides examples of when.
2. Grade your skill level and decision making during open skill game play and provide examples of when.
3. Grade your skill level and decision making during non-pressured game play and provide examples of when.
4. Grade your skill level and decision making during pressured game play and provide examples of when.

Hopefully you've noticed that I have used a player-centered approach over a coach-centered approach which by providing ownership of the process to the player in question will encourage more honest answers and not just answers the player thinks the coach wants to here.

Getting back to the negative connotation of assessments mentioned above, coach only assessments actually give you nothing to work with because the assessment requirements are probably subjective to the coach themselves (kicking skill, handballing skill, work rate etc) and plus if I was given assessment without being able to have any input I'd get a bit defensive and non-compliant myself, let alone as a 17 year old (which happened too don't worry about that!).