Performance Assessment for Field Sports: Physiological, Psychological and Match Notational Assessment in Practice » (1st Edition)

What are the most effective tools, techniques and technologies available to coaches and sport scientists in the assessment of player and team performance?

This is the first book dedicated to the assessment of performance in field sports such as soccer, rugby, hockey and lacrosse. It provides detailed and clear information about the laboratory and field-based methods that can be used to evaluate improvements in individual and team performance, from basic physiological assessment to the use of video and information technologies.

Standing at the interface between sport sciences and sport coaching, the book examines a wide range of performance criteria, including:

• physiology
• strength, conditioning and fitness
• decision-making
• coordination and motor skills
• sport specific skills
• team play.

Integrating cutting-edge theory, research and technology with best practice in applied sport science, this book is important reading for all students of sport sciences, kinesiology, human movement science, sports performance, or sports coaching.

Christopher Carling is Head of Sports Science at Lille Football Club.

Thomas Reilly is Director of the Research Institute for Sport and Exercise Sciences at Liverpool John Moores University. He is President of the World Commission of Science and Sports.

A. Mark Williams is Professor of Motor Behaviour at the Research Institute for Sport and Exercise Sciences, Liverpool John Moores University.

List of figures vii

List of tables xi

Acknowledgements xiii

1 Introduction 1

2 Assessing skill learning and performance 24

3 Anticipation and decision-making skills 43

4 Match analysis 70

5 Aerobic performance 103

6 Anaerobic and musculoskeletal performance 133

7 The meaning and measurement of body composition 170

8 Emerging technologies 200

Index 218