Performance analysis in sport

These pages are under construction and should be finished by Feb 2011.

This unit is the fourth in a sequence aimed at developing the coaching abilities of students. The primary focus is on the assessment and evaluation of sporting performance. During the majority of semester, classes will be centred on providing the skills needed to conduct two significant notational / performance analysis projects. This will include discussion on the philosophy of performance analysis, as well as the use of technology in this new and exciting sports science discipline. The latter part of semester focuses on preparation for the competency based interview, which forms an integral part of the assessment.

1. have a knowledge of notational / performance analysis
2. be able to conduct a thorough notational analyses of their chosen sport
3. have a working knowledge of each of the sports science disciplines
4. have an understanding how each is used in integrated athletic preparation

• Advanced coaching studies

This assignment represents 20% of the final grade. The length of the research proposal must not exceed 1500 words (excluding the reference list).

Conduct an independent research project that uses performance analysis to examine a team sport (this will be presented in the research poster) and the research proposal will outline how the research project will be completed, and why it is important to undertake such research.

Assessment of the research proposal assignment looks for

• A critical review of the scientific and coaching literature surrounding an area of interest in the performance analysis of team sports.
• It is important that the research proposal formulates a research project that can then be used to form the basis for the research poster.
• A title and blind title page: the title page of the research proposal must include the manuscript title, brief running head, author’s identification and full contact details. A second title page should be included that contains only the manuscript title (blind title page).
• An introduction: the Introduction must develop the aims and objectives of the study, identifying a gap in the research through a review of the literature. Subheadings can be used in the Introduction.
• Methods section: the following subheadings are required in the following order:

• Subjects, where the author explains the teams and participants to be sampled.
• Study Design, where the methods used must be presented with the concept of replication of the study kept in mind. Focus on the studies that support the aims and objectives of the research proposal, giving the proper context to the problem being studied. After reading this section another investigator should be able to replicate your study. The variables must be defined in this section. Provide a realistic timeline to completion in a Gant chart format that identifies milestones and weekly research tasks. Also include an example of a coding sheet that is intended for use during data collection.
• Statistical Analysis, clearly state your statistical approach to the analysis of the data set(s). It is important that you include your alpha level for significance (e.g., p < 0.05).

• References: All references must be alphabetised by surname of first author and numbered (Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research style). References are cited in the text by numbers [e.g., (4,9)] and all references listed must be cited in the manuscript and referred to by number therein. Limit the number of references to fewer than 40 but include both scientific and coaching articles to demonstrate breadth of research. Appendices are unnecessary and material submitted as an appendix will not be assessed.

This assignment represents 65% of the final grade. It should identify a gap in the research and conduct an independent research project that uses performance analysis to examine a team sport. The findings of this research must be presented in an abstract and poster format that is of conference quality.

Submit an abstract and research poster on separate sheets.

The abstract is limited to 250 words, followed by 3 – 6 key words not used in the title, and should have sentences (no headings) related to the purpose of the study, brief methods, results, conclusions. Do not end with statements such as "will be discussed."

The research poster is designed for A0 sized paper (approx. 841mm × 1189mm) and coloured printing, but the submission for assessment will be printed in A4. The poster will contain:

• An introduction that briefly summarises the necessary background that led to the work and clearly identifies the aims and specific objectives of the study.
• A Methods section that provides sufficient detail of the experimental design and outline the subjects, test design and statistical analysis (sub-headings in the Methods section are not required in the poster).
• A Results section that highlights the important findings of the study and use tables, figures or illustrations to support the written text.
• A conclusions section that interprets findings, giving context to an applied sport setting.
• A References section.
• Include a preface for the research poster that includes the title of the project, the author’s name and email address as well as the sponsoring institution's logos in the right and left top corners.

After receiving a mark and feedback for your research poster, please make any necessary changes ready for printing the poster in A0 size. The final poster will be displayed at a conference day for the Unit.

The mark for this assessment item will constitute 15% of the final grade.

Attend laboratory classes and complete the respective learning outcomes and tasks listed in the laboratory manual. Tasks included in the laboratory manual are:

• coding and analysis,
• data collection,
• research progress reports,
• interview portfolio and
• poster presentation at the conference day.

The research progress reports requires attendance to laboratory classes, and provision of written evidence outlining the progression of your research project, including discussion of any problems encountered as well as future directions. This evidence of research progression will be reviewed during the allocated laboratory class time.

Complete an interview portfolio as part of the laboratory manual. The length of the interview portfolio must not exceed 8 single-sided A4 pages. The interview portfolio will consist of a cover letter, curriculum vitae (maximum 3 pages) and job application (maximum 4 pages) relevant to the sport industry. A selection of job descriptions relevant to the sport industry will be provided.

• Text: Hughes, M., and Franks, I. M. (2008). The essentials of performance analysis: an introduction. New York, NY: Routledge. ISBN 9780415423809

• Analysis methods

• Technical coding

• Reliability coding

• Interview Tamara Kefford
• Time-motion coding

• Interview Matt Ford
• Tactical coding

• Interview Mark Snow
• Research progression

• Interview Keith Lyons
• Coaching analysis

• Coach assessment

• Interview Mohsin Sheikh
• Modelling the future

• Interview Yvonne Soper
• Conference and poster day

The amount of time you will need to spend on study in this unit will depend on a number of factors including your prior knowledge, learning skill level and learning style. Nevertheless, in planning your time commitments you should note that for a 3cp unit such as this, the total notional workload over a 15 week semester or term is assumed to be 150 hours. These hours include time spent in classes.

Please provide feedback on this Unit in the discussion page for this Unit.