Before this course: Performance Analysis Systems (course 10.8.3), which builds on Match Analysis in Practice (course 10.8.2) and Match Stats & Video Analysis Basics (course 10.8). You should already be able to film and chart matches, tag video, build a stats database and dashboard, explain luck and sample size, and present a season review. This course is about working as an analyst: methods you can defend, ethics, and being a trusted member of a coaching team.
01
The professional analyst's workflow
In simple words
A weather forecaster does the same things every day: collect readings, check them, make a forecast, explain it clearly. A performance analyst has a routine too: agree what to look at with the coach, film and code the match, check the numbers, and help the coach and player decide what to practise next.
Key facts
- The International Society of Performance Analysis of Sport (ISPAS) describes its purpose as providing an infrastructure of professionalisation, information and training opportunities for performance analysts, from amateurs to professional consultants and academics.
- A typical analysis cycle (common practice):
| Stage | What the analyst does | Output |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Plan | Meet the coach; agree the questions and the few numbers that matter this block | A short list of key performance indicators (KPIs) and definitions |
| 2. Capture | Film safely and with permission (Lesson 5); chart live if needed | Video files and live notes |
| 3. Code | Tag events using the agreed definitions | A clean coded data set |
| 4. Check | Re-code a sample and test reliability (Lesson 3) | A reliability note |
| 5. Analyse | Compare with earlier matches, with sample sizes shown (course 10.8.3) | Charts and two or three findings |
| 6. Report | Brief the coach first, then the player, with clips | A one-page report and a short clip reel |
| 7. Review | Ask the coach what helped and what did not | Changes to the next cycle |
- The coach decides; the analyst informs. Your job is to give the coach and player accurate, timely, useful evidence. The training choice is theirs.
- Plan your time honestly (practice numbers, checked with Python): 3 matches a week x (45 minutes coding + 30 minutes report + 20 minutes meeting) = 3 x 95 minutes = 285 minutes, or 4.75 hours a week. If that is more time than you have, cut the KPI list, not the checking step.
- Fewer, better numbers. An expert analyst agrees a small set of KPIs with the coach for each training block and changes them when the block's goal changes.
Step by step
- Book a 20-minute planning meeting with a coach (or a study partner acting as coach).
- Ask: "What do you want to know after the next match?" Write their exact words.
- Agree no more than three KPIs and write a one-line definition for each.
- Write your cycle as a weekly calendar: capture, code, check, analyse, report, review.
- Estimate your minutes for each stage and add them up for the week.
- Agree when and how you will deliver the report (for example, a one-page note and three clips within 48 hours).
- Check: the coach has read and agreed the KPIs and their definitions before the match.
Watch it
Watch on YouTube
Videos by other creators on YouTube, for reference. They are not made by or affiliated with The Future Market.
LESSON 01The professional analyst's workflow
Read the video script
[Host] "A performance analyst is not just the person with the camera. It is a job with a cycle."
[Text on screen: Plan, capture, code, check, analyse, report, review] "Plan with the coach, film, code, check your coding, analyse, report and then review what helped."
[Text on screen: The coach decides] "The coach and player make the decisions. You give them evidence they can trust."
[Text on screen: Fewer, better numbers] "Agree two or three key numbers for each training block, with clear definitions."
[Host] "And plan your hours honestly. Cut numbers, never the checking."
Try it now
Write your weekly analysis cycle for one player or team: stages, minutes per stage, agreed KPIs with definitions, and the report deadline.
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I'm learning "Performance Analyst Pathway: methods, ethics and working with coaches" on The Future Market. Lesson 1: "The professional analyst's workflow". What the lesson teaches: - The International Society of Performance Analysis of Sport (ISPAS) describes its purpose as providing an infrastructure of professionalisation, information and training opportunities for performance analysts, from amateurs to professional consultants and academics. - A typical analysis cycle (common practice): - Stage - What the analyst does - Output - 1. Plan - Meet the coach; agree the questions and the few numbers that matter this block - A short list of key performance indicators (KPIs) and definitions - 2. Capture - Film safely and with permission (Lesson 5); chart live if needed - Video files and live notes - 3. Code - Tag events using the agreed definitions - A clean coded data set - 4. Check - Re-code a sample and test reliability (Lesson 3) - A reliability note The exercise I'm working on: Write your weekly analysis cycle for one player or team: stages, minutes per stage, agreed KPIs with definitions, and the report deadline. I'm stuck. Please: 1. Explain the main idea in plain, simple words with one everyday example. 2. Walk me through the exercise one small step at a time. Ask me what I've done so far before giving the next step. 3. Don't just give me the final answer. Help me do it myself, and check my work when I share it. 4. This is for learning only. Remind me to check with a licensed professional before I make a real decision about my own money, health or legal situation.
I'm a parent helping my child (about 8 years old) with a lesson called "The professional analyst's workflow" from the course "Performance Analyst Pathway: methods, ethics and working with coaches". Here's what the lesson says: A weather forecaster does the same things every day: collect readings, check them, make a forecast, explain it clearly. A performance analyst has a routine too: agree what to look at with the coach, film and code the match, check the numbers, and help the coach and player decide what to practise next. The activity: Write your weekly analysis cycle for one player or team: stages, minutes per stage, agreed KPIs with definitions, and the report deadline. Please explain this so an 8-year-old understands: short sentences, a fun everyday example, and no hard words. Then give me 3 simple questions I can ask my child to check they understood, and a way to do the activity together, one tiny step at a time. Keep it general and educational. This is not advice for a real situation.
Sources
- ISPAS (International Society of Performance Analysis of Sport): www.ispas.com/
- The analysis cycle and time budget are common practice; the minutes are practice numbers checked with Python.
My notes
Saved on this device
02
Research methods: from a coach's question to a fair test
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03
Reliability and validity: can your numbers be trusted?
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04
Ethics for analysts: consent, children and honest reporting
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05
Data protection and filming rules
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06
Working in a coaching team
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07
Your portfolio, the pathway and leading other analysts
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++
Final project
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Quiz
In a coaching team, who makes the training decisions?
The coach (with the player); the analyst gives evidence and options.
What is an operational definition?
An exact rule for what counts, so two people would code the same event the same way.
Why save your research plan before you see new data?
So you cannot change the test to fit the result you hoped for.
What is a confounder?
Something else that changes at the same time, such as surface, opponent or weather.
What is the difference between intra- and inter-observer reliability?
Intra: the same analyst codes twice; inter: two analysts code the same match.
Why is Cohen's kappa used as well as percent agreement?
Kappa corrects for agreement that happens by chance.
Two analysts agree on 40 of 50 events. What is the percent agreement?
80%.
What should you do when coders disagree mostly on one category?
Rewrite that definition and test again on a fresh sample.
What should happen if a player wants to stop being filmed?
They can withdraw at any time with no penalty.
With a child player, whose agreement do you need?
A parent or guardian's consent and the child's own agreement.
Name two data protection habits for analysts.
For example collect less, use codes instead of names, limit access by role, delete on time.
What should be in an analyst's portfolio case study?
The question, definitions, reliability check, findings, report and what the coach changed.
EX
Final exam
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CE
Certificate
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