Analysing and Evaluating Performance

Analysing and evaluating performance

The best athletes do not just train hard; they train smart, and that begins with honest analysis. Analysing a performance means studying it closely to work out what is going well, what is not, and what to do about it. This module builds the written skill that underpins the coursework: how to watch a performance, identify its strengths and weaknesses, apply what you have learned from the course to explain them, and then produce a justified plan to improve, before evaluating honestly whether it worked. The physical performance itself is done and marked separately; here you build the thinking and writing around it, which is where many marks are won or lost.

Words for analysing performance

Learn these terms before the analysis methods are matched up. They name the ideas used in this part of the course.

Match each analysis method to what it gives

A strength against a weakness

Good analysis is balanced, naming what works as clearly as what does not, because both matter when you plan improvement.

What does this analysis show?

A netball player is skilful but keeps losing possession in the last quarter as she tires. What does good analysis conclude?

• A weakness in stamina that should become a training target
• Nothing, since she is skilful
• That she should be dropped
• It is just bad luck

Justify every improvement

The difference between a weak plan and a top one is justification. It is not enough to say what a performer should do; you must say why, and back it with theory from the course. If someone tires late in a game, do not just write train harder; explain that this points to poor stamina, that stamina is built by continuous or interval work, and that this is why you have chosen it. Link every choice to a cause you have spotted and to the part of the course that supports it. Examiners reward the chain of reasoning from what you saw, to what it means, to what you will do and why, far more than a bare list of drills.

Pick what a good improvement plan needs

Select everything a strong, justified improvement plan should include.

• A clear weakness to work on
• A suitable method chosen to fix it
• A reason linking the method to theory
• A vague aim to get better at everything
• A guess with no evidence

Order the analyse and improve cycle

Put the steps of the analyse-and-improve cycle into a sensible order.

• Watch or record the performance
• Judge what is strong and what is weak
• Set a clear target to work on
• Plan a justified way to improve it
• Look again to judge if it worked

Complete the performance analysis facts

Studying a performance to see how to improve it is performance _____. A good analysis names what the performer does well, their _____, and what needs work, their _____. After acting on a plan, you judge whether it worked in an honest _____.

Tap the two strong evaluation points

Read these four comments from an evaluation. Tap the TWO that are strong, useful points.

• my passing improved, so next I will work on my weaker left foot
• it went quite well overall
• the interval training raised my stamina, shown by fewer late errors
• I enjoyed the sessions

A mechanic finding the fault

Improving a performance is like a good mechanic fixing a car that pulls to one side. A poor mechanic guesses and changes random parts; a good one listens, takes it for a test drive, and works out exactly what is wrong before touching a spanner. Only then do they fix that one thing, and afterwards they drive it again to check the fault has gone. A performer improves the same way. You watch closely, work out what is really holding the performance back, choose the one change that will help most, make it, and then look again to see if it worked. Aim at the true cause, not a guess, and every bit of effort counts.

The performance analysis run

Answer each one correctly to keep your lives. Choose the best answer.

Apply theory to a performer

Read each situation and choose the best answer.

• A sprinter has a slow reaction at the start. What is the best improvement focus?
• You have spotted a clear weakness. What makes the strongest plan?
• After six weeks you must judge your plan. What is the best approach?

Build an evaluation point

Choose the word for each gap to complete one point about analysing performance.

Explain how to analyse and evaluate

A friend must write the analysis and evaluation part of their PE coursework and asks how. Using what you have learned, explain how to analyse a performance and evaluate an improvement plan.

• Explain what performance analysis is and why it helps
• Explain how to find strengths and weaknesses
• Explain how to turn a weakness into a justified plan
• Explain why linking a choice to theory earns marks
• Explain how to evaluate honestly whether the plan worked