Measuring soccer skill performance: a review

Abstract

The ability to execute skilled movement patterns efficiently and effectively is the most important aspect of soccer performance and players must apply cognitive, perceptual and motor skills to rapidly changing situations. There have been attempts to measure these parameters for talent identification (or development) purposes and skill acquisition and intervention research; the aim of this review is to examine the strengths and limitations of these tests. High levels of perceptual and cognitive skill are characteristics of those players who are able look in the right places for information and process this information efficiently before deciding on a suitable course of action. The motor skills required to successfully control, pass, dribble and shoot the ball at goal are fundamental skills of the soccer player and a variety of methods have been used to measure these aspects. The tests mentioned in this review vary in their complexity and the type of skill(s) they purport to measure. The assessment of choice must come down to a number of factors including cost, available time and space, number of athletes in the cohort and experience of researchers. Furthermore, consideration must be given to the aim(s) of the research/assessment and issues relating to validity and reliability.

Skill not athleticism predicts individual variation in match performance of soccer players

“…Tests of soccer-specific skill are usually more time-intensive and can offer lower repeatabilities than measures of athletic performance [23]. Furthermore, there are also disagreements over which skills are the most relevant [10]. Finally, many coaches still feel that assessment of skill is their domain, and not that of scientists.…”

“…Furthermore, variation in traits and performance among individuals drives success (as quantified in evolutionary biologists). Soccer is an ideal sport for an integrative study such as ours, because soccer enables one to identify, isolate and quantify the traits that potentially underlie the relative success of many individuals in multiple populations [10,34]. Soccer is the world's most popular team sport, played by more than 200 million registered competitors and transcends national, cultural, religious and gender boundaries.…”

“…In sports science, talent identification programmes are used to predict which individuals are most likely to attain elite competitive status, based on differences in the characteristics of elite versus sub-elite athletes [5,10,11]. This approach has helped to identify and nurture talent in sports such as athletics, swimming and rowing; where power, speed and endurance determine success.…”

Representativeness of Offensive Scenarios to Evaluate Perceptual- Cognitive Expertise of Soccer Players

“…Ericsson [32] has argued that this type of method is particular relevant in sport where sequences of events are rarely if ever repeated in an exact form. Additionally, Ali [33] reported that using such instruments can enable scientists to carefully examine the core aspects of perceptual skill performance in soccer players.…”

Somatotipo Y Dermatoglifia Dactilar en Futbolistas Mexicanos / Somatotype and Digital Dermatoglyphic in Mexican Football Players

“…Existen gran número de métodos científicos para evaluar el rendimiento físico (Ali, 2011). Sin embargo solo una minoría de los centros deportivos cuentan con laboratorios o equipo para evaluaciones sofisticadas.…”