Unit 27 – Referral 1Task 2 – Performance Strengths and

Areas for Improvement

Strength 1/4• Excellence Trait: StrengthStrength is the extent to which muscles can exert force by contracting against resistance, this is important in football as any player needs to strength to emit force against their opponent. After our discussions I have found out that her best excellence trait is strength; her muscular strength in her arms and abdomen is shown throughout each game she plays as she is able to easily shoulder barge people off the ball and use her body to protect the ball when through on goal. During one observation I saw her use her body strength during a corner to keep her in front of the defender allowing her to get to the ball first; this resulting in her scoring; without this strength the defender would’ve been able to push her to get in front of her and to the ball first so it would’ve been cleared. Using her strength in this way enhances her overall performance as it allows her to win the ball off the opposition and retain possession when under pressure; this allows her team to have more overall possession and more chance to shoot resulting in scoring more goals and winning the games. I personally believe this is her greatest strength and it is very important for a footballer at any level especially a striker as it allows her to retain the ball. I think having strength as her strongest quality improves her overall performance because as previously stated it allows her to win the ball off the opposition and keep the ball when a defender attempts to push her off it.

Strength 2/4• Excellence Trait: Selective attentionSelective attention is the athlete’s ability to focus of relevant cues and remove irrelevant cues. This is important for my athlete because it allows her to stay ‘in the zone’ so she can perform to the best of her ability. Whilst I was watching her play I noticed that she spends a lot of time looking round her at the positioning of her team and the opposition in relation to the ball. I listened to people shouting to her from the side-lines and noticed she paid no or very little attention to these comments which shows she wasn’t focused on the irrelevant information; this makes selective attention of her big strengths because it meant she could easily filter the important information so she was more effective when making decisions. Making quick and effective decisions improves her overall performance because it means she can quickly move into good positions and release the ball either to any team mate in space or shoot if given the chance. Choosing the correct decision is important as it could be the difference between her team scoring or not. I believe having good selective attention is one of the most important quality of any athlete and as its one of her biggest strengths it enhances her performance through her decision making, reactions and concentration.

Strength 3/4• Excellence Trait: Correct Arousal LevelsHaving correct arousal levels are important because if the player is over-aroused they will focus on irrelevant cues and be liable to making mistakes. They could be under-aroused which means they won’t reach peak performance. During observation and discussion we reached a conclusion that my athlete was nearly always playing within the correct arousal levels which is a strength because it means she can perform skills effortlessly with extreme accuracy and precision. Having this is extremely important because shooting with accuracy means she is more likely to hit the corners and score and if she chooses to pass the pass itself needs to be accurate so its easy for the other player to finish increasing their chance of scoring. Having this level of accuracy and precision during a game improves her overall performance as it increases her passing success rate and scoring rate. During 2 matches I watched she scored two goals from within the box during a 1 on 1 with the keeper; she kept her composure and was able to place the ball into the bottom left corner both times which needed good accuracy. I personally believe that having the correct levels of arousal is very important because it improves the athletes ability to have accuracy and precision as well as reducing the chance of making mistakes. Her having the correct arousal levels improves her overall performance.

Strength 4/4• Excellence Trait: Low Stress LevelsStress is experienced when an athlete feels they are unable to cope with the situation presented. If an athlete is in a stressful situation then their performance will be negatively affected as the player may lose focus in the primary task and therefore hinder their ability to make good decisions. Furthermore it’s best for any athlete including a footballer to have low levels of stress. Over the last week through observation and discussion I found out that my athlete has low levels of stress during each game she plays; this is a strength because it means this stress won’t hinder her performance and she is able to make correct decisions, keep calm and be in control of her performance. When watching her performances I noticed her low stress levels when the team were 1-0 down and she didn’t get worked up over the fact she was being relied on to score; when receiving the ball she stayed composed and was able to keep her shots on target and pass when another player was in a better position. This is an advantage to the team as it means they are more likely to score the equaliser and get a point out of the game. Keeping composed under these stressful situations increase her chances of being selected for important games, such as cup games, when there is a lot of pressure on the players to do well. Due to her low levels of stress she focus’s on the task at hand and is able to make the correct decision resulting in a better individual and team performance. I think having low levels of stress and being able to control these levels is important for any athlete especially at the higher end of the performance pyramid.

Development Area 1/4• Excellence Trait: FinishingFinishing is important for any striker because it is their main role; finishing will not only contribute to their team winning but it will enhance their levels of confidence and motivation. During the first game I observed she missed an early attempt on goal and for the rest of the game she missed easy shots from inside the box that normally she would’ve scored. I also looked online and she has only scored 7 goals in the 10 league games she has played in and missed many chances. This is a weakness because it is her main role as a striker to be scoring goals; when she doesn’t score goals she loses both confidence and motivation and easily loses tackles and is often caught offside. Having finishing as her biggest weakness is a massive disadvantage not only for her but for the team as it means they are unable to score easy goals which means they need to create even more opportunities to get ahead and win the game. In my opinion being able to finish 90% of chances is the most important thing for a striker at any level and not being able to do this reduces their overall ability and performance.

Development Area 2/4• Excellence Trait: Confidence Having confidence in sport is important because if you don’t have the confidence in your ability to perform well you ultimately won’t perform well. Believing in your ability will increase the likelihood of having positive thoughts and attributing failure to external factors. During the observation of my athletes game and discussion with both her and the coach I realised that she has extremely low levels of self confidence in her ability as a striker. During one of the games my athlete didn’t have confidence in her ability to finish with her weaker foot from a tighter angle and she tried to move the ball onto her stronger foot; this gave the defender time to get into place and make a tackle. You can also see low levels of confidence when she is faced with a 1 on 1 with the keeper as she tends to shot at the keeper, this is a disadvantage for the team as it means they aren’t scoring a high number of goals. Having low levels of confidence is a big disadvantage to her especially when in the higher end of the performance pyramid because she will have negative thoughts in herself and won’t capitalise on opportunities that other players with higher levels of confidence would. Having low levels of confidence will also reduce her likelihood to retain possession of the ball, make successful tackles and shoot on target. This will reduce her overall level of performance and may even result in her being subbed off or may not even start as there are other more confident strikers in the squad. If this happens it will again reduce her confidence and motivation making her performance even poorer. I believe having high levels of self confidence is the key to being an excellent performer and is something my athlete needs to work on to have a better overall performance.

Development Area 3/4• Excellence Trait: SpeedSpeed is how quickly a distance between two points is covered or how quickly a body part is able to move. Both of these are important in football because the first type of speed will ensure the player gets to the ball before their opposition and the second type of speed allows them to react quickly to a ball coming towards them. While watching the videos of her playing I saw on numerous occasions that through balls were played through to her, she had to beat the defender there in order to retain possession and have to opportunity to attack. On over 50% of these occasions she was last to the ball and didn’t have the opportunity to attack. This lack of speed is a disadvantage because it means that she was second to the ball and the opposition gained possession and could then attack. If she was quicker she would’ve got to the ball first, retained possession and had the opportunity to run at the defence and possibly have a 1 on 1 with the keeper which could result in a goal which in turn would improve her overall performance. In my opinion being fast is a key factor to being a good player and my athlete needs to improve her speed to improve her overall performance.

Development Area 4/4• Excellence Trait: Body CompositionBody composition is the percentage of fat, bone and muscle ratio. It is important in sport that the body fat percentage is low, especially in football as high levels of fat will reduce the players aerobic endurance, cardiovascular fitness and speed therefore resulting in a poorer performance. According to her BMI, which is 27.8, she is overweight for her height and age. For her height of 5ft she has more body fat than desired. This is a disadvantage for any athlete including a footballer because having more body fat reduces her cardiovascular fitness and speed which are key areas for a footballer so therefore it reduces her overall performance. While watching her performance I can see that her cardiovascular fitness and speed especially speed aren’t at the optimum level for someone of her standard. Her lack of speed is shown when a through ball was played forward, she was beaten to the ball on several occasions by the opposing defender who clearly had lower levels of body fat. This id a disadvantage as it means she is unable to retain possession of the ball and not have an opportunity to shoot. For the final 10 minutes of the game you can see her cardiovascular fitness suffers as she doesn’t run after every through ball and doesn’t close down the defenders as much as she would during the first 80 minutes. This is a disadvantage because she again isn’t able to retain possession and shoot. These problems may cause her to be subbed off for the final minutes of the game and the opposing team may have the chance to score as they will have possession. I believe that having the correct body composition is an important element of sport as it allows you to have to correct balance of muscle and fat; having less fat increases your speed and cardiovascular fitness and having more muscle can increase their strength and power and ultimately your performance.