Level Of Performance
Mikey McGee
4 Levels of Performance
FOUNDATION means the early development of sporting competence and physical skills (e.g. throwing, catching, hand-eye co-ordination) upon which all later forms of sports development are based. Without a sound foundation, young people are unlikely to become long-term sports participants.
Basically in this level of sport people look for talent that they think will go through a young development stage and stick with it right through. Analysts will look for young players that had some of the elite players show because it means they have a great chance of them being at the top.
Participation: the big mark is "why are these people here in this sport?" or "what is the attraction" maybe because they are sociable, unsociable, health reasons, fitness levels, this is where people find out why these people are here and its mainly for Sunday league players or school level.
Performance: This is at a little higher level than the Participation level is and this is because it look more into detail of what they can improve or change about a player to make him/her more successful, in football this would be at academy level or county level.
Elite: It's a person who is currently or has previously competed as a varsity player (individual or team), a professional player or a national or international level player.
Why Do We Analyse Performance?
- Squad Selection is one most effective at the higher stages so elite level in this case and this is because you can never predict how an athlete is going to perform on the day, by this i mean you have to chose who you think was strong in training that week or pre-match warm up. Also maybe you chose them because they have had two strong games one after another in the last two weeks so you play them predicting they will have a third good game. This is why squad selection is useful because the best players in the team might not always perform for you. A an example, Wayne Rooney for Manchester United had a great season before the 2010 world cup in South Africa so he was highlighted as the big player for England that year, then he played three games during the league knockout stages and struggled to do anything that helped the team. then the coach didn't play him for the next group stage game and the team played much more fluently and the player he put in instead of Wayne got a goal. This just goes to show how effective squad selection can be and how unpredictable players are in sports.
- Talent Identification is another reason why we analyse identification but at a low level like foundation. This is trying to find kids that stand out and look athletic by being good at the sport they are doing. If they realize he would be able to play at a better standard, they then use contacts or get contacted by others to move up to that stage. this is when you have elite coaches coming in to see if these foundation players have what it takes to be the best. The way they do this is by taking already elite players like David Beckham for example, they would take his progress at a young age and use it against other young footballers and see what their fitness level, playing style, etc is, then compare it against David's and see what differences there are. Normally if a player is good enough and is already at a Sunday league standard, they will then be put in academies and county level.
- Recovery from injury is also used but mainly at elite level, just to make sure their athlete or performer can supply what it takes to recover perfectly form an injury, also make sure that the body hasn't been damaged enough for it to come back and be weak from then on. If this happens they can work on it to try and make it stronger but sometimes top athletes at their peak can be left with nothing if a doctor or professional tells them they will not be able to do it again. Some athletes actually go to extreme levels and fill them selves with pills and perform with the injury which only makes it worse in the long run. What has changed and will keep changing in a good way is the equipment and facilities that can be used to make sure that they can recover or try to recover int he best most safe way possible.
- Assessment of health state is another one that elite level coaches and professionals closely look at to make sure they are getting the most out of their performer. this is why you never really hear of athletes getting unwell and not being able to perform, its because they are so healthy and so fit that their body blocks most colds and other illnesses out. They are not immune at all, they are not aliens who cant get colds or sicknesses but unless its something serious the body will quickly get it out of the system before the performer him/herself will even feel the change. It's also to do with their blood pressure and what their breathing rate is at before/during/after exercise, because its really important that their inst any massive change in case there's a problem so records are made.
Elite Level Performers
Usain Bolt
Criastiano Ronaldo
Mo Farah
Most Frequent Questions asked
Equipment & Resources
Then you have elite level, at this level you bring in thousand pounds of equipment, equipment that will look right through you and pull out the smallest of changes in your body. As an example in the hundred meters at school you would have two teachers, one at the beginning and one at the end, calling you to go and calling you to finish, at elite level you have real timing gates which study if you make a false start and give you precise timing scores. Also if you were a long distance runner, you would have a treadmill where you're hooked up to a million different computers showing everything that is going on, giving you beneficial advice on every different thing.
Facilities: Within facilities again you have different ones depending on what level you have. If you do a comparison to elite and foundation, here's a few examples. In football you would train on a actual training ground where some have stands for people to watch and analyse properly what they want to see. Also have a drainage system where if the rain has been heavy the night before or the morning you train the pitch will sort its self out as the rain is hitting, using either a heater underground or a drainage system where the rain will go down to the sides of the pitch and go down a drainage pipe underneath. Now at foundation level, its a whole lot different, at foundation level you have an open filed that is probably part of a park or a school/college and you just turn up there and hope its going to be good weather before hand, if its not then tough luck, you call it off and you go home or don't turn up. Also if council say that you are wrecking the pitch and the ground is getting ruined and torn up, you will have to relocate and obviously a pain for you and your team, but there is nothing much you can do about it. As an opinion, I have played both foundation and performance and I dont think there is much difference between the two apart from the session itself, its only when you go to that elite level is the facility changed (in football).