SUMMER2014
7
Delivering Objective
anD Meaningful
evaluatiOns in sOccer
t
t
he term "objective" has many synonyms, including
"impartial," "neutral," and "fair." The opposite of
objective is "subjective," which often characterizes the
comments and accompanying rank order score of the
most well-meaning coaches.
Most of us have completed or read an evaluation like
the one below:
Technique:
John is a good passer, with a good first touch, a
cultured left foot and a strong ability in the tackle.
Overall: 1 2 3 4 5
I have gladly filled out many of these subjective
evaluations during my coaching career, and I genuinely
tried to do my best. I will, however, readily agree
that such well-intended evaluations have many
shortcomings.
The technical aspects that can be evaluated are
voluminous. We could begin by listing the general
technical parameters such as: dribbling, passing,
shooting, heading, first touch, ball control, and ball
winning.
We could single out shooting, for example, and break
the technique down into subsets, such as finishing with
the head, torso, thigh, knee, and all parts of the foot
before adding angle, distance from goal, trajectory of
the ball (ingress and regress) and velocity.
by Dr. Roy Patton
Thus, we can see that the Technique grade assigned
to John, above, leaves much to be desired and is, in
essence, just a subjective snap shot!
how, then, do coaches provide objective
evaluations? here are some tips:
1.
Train and employ competent administrators to
perform the protocol.
2. Provide the administrator with all necessary written
explanations, videos and instruments to ensure that
the protocol is administered precisely as intended.
3. Ensure that equipment is standardized and regularly
calibrated.
4. Ensure each test is focused on only one factor.
5. Ensure that each athlete will know precisely what
is required of him or her and will have the same
amount of time to prepare for the measurement
at hand.
6. Ensure that each measurement protocol is
highly standardized in terms of administration,
organization and environmental conditions.
7. Ensure that the measurement is designed so that it
can be easily replicated by another administrator.
continued
