Tuesday, 22 November 2016

Eating soup with a knife

Much has been made of culture recently; we hear it cited using negative connotations in reports of our incarceration system and with a more favourable tone when discussing successful sports teams.  There is an excellent book entitled ‘legacy’ which deals with cultural issues within the All Blacks Rugby Union team and how it has helped them achieve unparalleled success on the field. What the latter demonstrated was the importance of consistency in staff, or to broaden to the wider business community, decision makers.  This is a luxury rarely permitted within sport and perhaps why, especially in football, few clubs succeed in developing their own unique culture.

A culture is something that should permeate an organisation; it should be able to be articulated by those at every level and function; it should go beyond what I would consider basic manners and set the tone for how its proponents are viewed by each other and the outside world [On point 2 above I get frustrated when sports teams are lauded for ‘sweeping out the sheds’ or essentially, cleaning up their own mess, something that is expected, although increasingly unenforced, amongst young children].  Cultures are not created overnight, certainly not those that go deeper than a fancy headline or marketing slogan.  Cultures that unify groups of individuals toward a shared and common goal are years in the making, a timeframe rarely experienced by managers in professional sport and in some cases big business. In situations where new managers are perceived to have little time to achieve such a sea change within their organisation they may face a threat far greater than inertia; quiet rebellion.

To take an example from football, a new manager inherits staff from their predecessor, both players, coaches and support staff.  With a relatively small window of opportunity to deliver success they must ensure that every person within their wider team understands what they are trying to achieve and more importantly, the tactics by which they will pursue this end.  Outside observers may consider the most important group from which support must be garnered to be the playing staff; whilst I wouldn’t disagree, the impact of back room staff who are not supportive of the new regime should not be overlooked.  The logistics of organising a team are very similar to many businesses.  There are uniform requirements (kit), logistical considerations (travel), organisational (administrative and alike), end product (tactics and strategy) to name but a few, all tasks undertaken by the support staff whom the manager must develop a close and effective working relationship with.  How the manager wins their support, cooperation and trust may be one of the most important tasks in the early days of assuming control.

The skills required to achieve this are subtle; people need to feel secure in their role but also challenged to improve wherever possible; communication channels need to be open and effective; a clear objective, strategy and tactics should be made clear; and a fair review system developed.  Whilst the new manager may be met with suspicion upon entering the organisation (especially when their predecessor was well liked) approaching a potentially rebellious group in an aggressive and/or combative way should be avoided.  To quote Lawrence of Arabia, ‘to make war upon rebellion is messy and slow, like eating soup with a knife’.  As frustrating as a lack of support for your ultimate objective may be, confrontation is rarely an effective strategy.


In football as in many businesses we have a culture of ‘easy come, easy go’; this is epitomised by the recent reports of would be managers openly discussing their dealings with a club who already have an individual in the post they are linked with.  Such an open lack of support for the incumbent makes managing staff even more difficult, especially for managers who have employees that would rather see the back of them.  If football clubs (and businesses) want to see a culture change in their organisations they would do well to start at the top and allow individuals a sufficient degree of time to achieve the targets they have been set.  Without such a mandate managers may find it increasingly difficult to garner the support of their staff and prevent being overcome and perhaps overthrown by a rebellious miniroty.

Wednesday, 9 November 2016

The uses, benefits and controversies surrounding performance analysis in team sports

Introduction

The analysis of sporting performance is a vital component of the coaching process [9] Six key subcategories within the delivery of analysis have been identified comprising motivational videos, opposition analysis, performance feedback, performance modelling, performance review and training; all aim to change behaviour, facilitate learning, improve efficacy and increase motivation [6]. Much is known about the benefits of feedback however there is a feeling that research investigating the “applied” use of video-based technology is limited and experimental studies used to develop practical working guidelines may not be grounded in the realities of “real world coaching [3].

Benefits

A key benefit of video analysis is the ability to review performance and provide a degree of objectivity to the feedback process [2] Research has found coaches to believe that video based analysis often “reinforced their thoughts on performance”, [5] with the same study highlighting the benefits of review “once emotions have gone”. The ability to objectively review performance after the emotional high of competing has subsided is beneficial for athletes as well as coaches. Coaches feel post match analysis should remain game related with clips carefully selected so that the session finishes with a positive message.
It is vital that coaches build the relationship between analysis sessions performed in the classroom (for want of a better word) and practical “on pitch” sessions. One coach observed that, “we bring them (the players) into the video room, they might watch something that we’re going to work on and then we go straight into training.”[6] This is particularly relevant when relating opposition analysis to training and ensuring clarity regarding the intended aims and objectives of the session; smart training.
An increasing number of clubs now use player performance rating’s, expressed as numerical values and derived from algorithms related to key performance indicators (KPI’s). KPI’s can be tailored to the requirement of the coach and their philosophy or style of play with greater weight given to actions they believe relate to successful outcomes, not always necessarily winning. [7]

Considerations

Research has shown that around 19 of 46 elite coaches reported “gut instinct” to guide the selection of KPI’s whilst 90% identified the coaching philosophy as being a contributory factor. [11] It could be argued that some variables may be measured as a result of availability rather than an intrinsic link to successful performance; to coin the reverse of a popular phrase in business, what can be measured matters. [7] Data providers such as Opta, Prozone Sports & Instat provide clubs with large statistical datasets and measures of standardised KPI’s. Despite the availability of data within this domain there difficulty exists in defining such variables between clubs, leagues and national governing bodies. [1] Analysts can all too easily drown themselves in vast amounts of irrelevant data, leading to a rejection or diluted impact of their work. [1]
Performance analysis research has tended to be conducted in academic environments with limited access to elite-level coaches yielding results that lack real world validity. This can lead to an unwillingness of coaches to consider such research applicable; Manchester City has taken steps to address this through releasing their 2011/12 data to the public in the hope of pursuing the ‘wisdom of crowds’.
When preparing their team, coaches are reluctant to use a high volume of positive clips through fear of suggesting the opposition cannot be defeated; conversely, showing too many of the opposition’s weaknesses may lull a team it a false sense of security[6] Coaches feel that the effectiveness of an analysis session, at least those delivered to players, depends on the level of trust and respect achieved within the group. Research using Ice Hockey players found respect afforded to coaches was supported by their achievement within the sport, passion for their job, social presence and quality of presentations; whether these skills are commonly developed through coach education pathways is debateable, or indeed in sports where managers are routinely undermined by owners and the media. [9]

Future Directions

“It depends if you are developmental or purely winning-orientated in regards to how you go about the delivery of analysis” Is a quote from the literature, which from my experiences I would agree with. [6]
There is a relatively limited pool of research into the role and application of analysis in the applied setting. [1] If modelling statistical trends can be linked to predicting success the findings are still dependent on the coaches’ and practitioners’ ability to integrate such findings into their working practises. [1] As a result many analysts focus on employing a “reductionist” approach that presents “Key” statistics combined with complementary video.
I believe future research should move away from measuring variables and identifying retrospective trends and expand the knowledge base by exploring varying applications of analysis within the applied environment. This may be achieved through studying players’ perceptions of performance analysis and how they feel they benefit from it, investigating reasons behind coaches uses of the different subcategories of analysis or perhaps the application of analysis techniques at different stages of a players development.


References
[1] Carling, C. Wright, C. Nelson, L. J. & Bradley, P. S. (2014) Comment on ‘Performance analysis in football: A critical review and implications for future research’, Journal of Sports Sciences, 32:1, 2-7,
[2] Drust, B. (2010). Performance analysis research: Meeting the challenge. Journal of Sports Sciences, 28(9), 921–922.
[3] Franks, M. (2002) Evidence-based practice and the coaching process, International Journal of Performance Analysis in Sport, 2, 6
20.
[4] Gilbert, W. D., & Trudel, P. (2001). Learning to coach through experience: Reflection in model youth coaches. Journal of Teaching in Physical Education, 21, 16–34.
[5] Groom, R., Cushion, C.J. (2004) Coaches Perceptions of the use of video analysis (A Case Study), Insight 3(7), 56-68
[6] Groom, R., Cushion, C.J., & Nelson, L. (2011). The delivery of video-based performance analysis by England youth soccer coaches: Towards a grounded theory. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, 23 (1): 16–32.
[7] Mackenzie, R. & Cushion, C. (2013) Performance analysis in football: A critical review and implications for future research, Journal of Sports Sciences, 31:6, 639-676,
[8] Nelson, L. J. & Groom, R. (2012) The analysis of athletic performance: some practical and philosophical considerations, Sport, Education and Society, 17:5, 687-701,
[9] Nelson, L. J. Potrac, P. & Groom, R. (2014) Receiving video-based feedback in elite ice-hockey: a player's perspective, Sport, Education and Society, 19:1, 19-40,
[10] O’Donoghue, P. G. (2001). The most important points in grand slam tennis. Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport, 72, 125– 131.
[11] Wright, C., Atkins, S., & Jones, B. (2012). An analysis of elite coaches’ engagement with performance analysis services (match, notational analysis and technique analysis). International Journal of Performance Analysis of Sport, 16, 436–451.