Great Cone Skills. But Can They Play?
To understand how athletes use technique in their sport, observe them in situations that look like the sport. Opponents, time pressure, space, and decisions all influence which techniques athletes select and how successfully they execute them.
You can also track technique directly during matches or competitions. The game itself gives you plenty to analyze.
Need more opportunities to observe a particular skill? Adjust the exercise. Change the space, player numbers, or scoring rules, or create a task that encourages a specific technique. Just remember that every constraint influences how athletes play, so choose those constraints carefully.
Record the action with the athletes’ consent, track each attempt, and use clear, consistent rating criteria. The objective is not to create a universal laboratory test. It is to develop a practical and repeatable view of how technique functions in the context that matters.
Less clipboard guesswork. More evidence.
Explore Training Lab’s team-sport planning and technique-assessment spreadsheet, along with more practical coaching tools at Training Lab.