Levels of Performance
Sophie Ward
Introduction
Elite
This level of performance is at olypimic or world class level.
The purpose of goal setting at this level is so that the athletes have something to work towards. Although they don't need to progress onto a 'next level' as they are at the highest, they can still make goals such as a sprinter saying they want to beat they're last timed run or a striker in football saying they want to score so many goals in 1 season. They would do this so they know that they are performing to the best of their ability and getting the most out of their talent and skills.
The purpose of assessment of health status at this level is so that athletes coaches can track and monitor their athletes well being. For example, a coach won't want to allow their athlete to compete or train if there is a possibility or risk of a reoccurring injury- they will have to make sure they don't work that particular injured part of the body too hard. A coach wants their athlete to be constantly performing to the best of their ability so if there is any risk of injuries then the coach would advise their athlete on a specific training schedule rather than their usual one. This is one of the reasons that health status assessments are carried out.
The purpose of squad selection at this level is so that teams have the best possible chance of winning. The coaches select the players they think will play best and put them in the positions they think they play best. If a coach didn't do this then the team wouldn't be playing to the best of their ability and there would be a chance of them losing the match.
Foundation
This level of performance is usually at a young between 5-10.
The purpose of talent identification at this level is to see which young children show signs of talent at a sport and an interest as this talent may develop and the child may later go on to a higher level and eventually compete in this sport. A way that talent can be identified is if coaches use data from elite athletes when they were younger (the same age as the children's participating) and compare these results and data to the children's results- this would give a coach an idea of who may progress and be talented within this sport. If a child at foundation level is identified as talented then this means there is more chance of them being successful at the sport later in life.
Resources
Time, Facilities, Human and Fiscal
Time- the time needed to analyse the performance at elite level is going to be a lot more than at foundation. When analysing an athletes performance that is at elite level, the coach may want their athlete to be videoed as they take part in their sport; if for example the athlete was a footballer, they would need to record a match which lasts for 90 minutes and then analyse the whole match afterwards which could take up to a few hours. The analysis at foundation level is minimum and would just be the coach or teacher watching the child as they play or take part in the sport with means the amount of time take could range from a few minutes to 90 minutes (football match).
Facilities- the facilities needed at foundation level to analyse someone's performance would be where ever the performer is training or maybe even in a PE lesson- either a field, a sports hall or astro turf would be the only facilities needed to analyse performance at this level. In comparison, facilities at elite level can vary from astro turf/a football stadium to a science laboratory. For example at foundation level to analyse someone's cardiovascular endurance they would perform the multi-stage fitness test which would take place in a sports hall or gymnasium where as at elite level an athlete would take part in the Vo2 max protocol.
Human- the only people needed to analyse performance at foundation level would be the coach or teacher as not a lot of analysis takes place at this level. An example would be a teacher or parent watching their child as they take part in a sports day or sporting event at school. Where as at elite level, there would be lots of background people such as in football at elite level: a physiotherapist, a manager, a coach, a goal keeping coach, an attacking coach and a defending coach etc. An example of this would be a psychologist working with a footballer on taking penalties without getting nervous. They would teach the footballer to self talk before taking a penalty and stop any types of nerves or anxiety taking over when taking the penalty and hopefully preventing the footballer to miss.
Fiscal- not a great deal of money will be spent on analysing performance at foundation level. Schools may get coaches to come coach their students but will not charge the students any fees. Schools would not pay for facilities either as they would be within school grounds. Elite level will spend a lot more money on analysing performance as they will be spending money on facilities such as science labs, equipment such as timing gates and back room staff such as physiotheorists. This means that the analysis at this level will be in greater detail than any other level.