Sports Performance Analysis and the Analyst in Elite Wheelchair Basketball

Sports performance analysis and the analyst in elite wheelchair basketball J. Francis A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the University’s requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy 2018 University of Worcester Abstract Despite the rise in accessibility of Sports Performance Analysis (SPA), limited attention has been given to understanding how it is used within disability sports. This thesis interpreted the impact of a SPA provision for a men’s wheelchair basketball team and the role of the analyst throughout the Rio de Janeiro Paralympic Games cycle (2013-2017) using a mixed methods approach. Through discussions with wheelchair basketball staff, a novel valid and reliable team- specific SPA template was developed for elite men’s wheelchair basketball. The template was used to identify the key determinants of team success by analysing 31 games from the 2015 European Wheelchair Basketball Championships. The analysis highlighted the importance of the status of the game at the beginning of a possession, the type of defensive systems faced by the team in possession and the line-up configurations used by the offensive and defensive team. Further analysis of field-goal shot attempts (1,144 shots) from the top five teams from the 2015 European Wheelchair Basketball Championships indicated the importance of the shooting player’s shot position, shot location, shot type and shooting with least defensive pressure. The key findings from these initial studies were disseminated to the British Wheelchair Basketball (BWB) coaches, players and support staff. The data were presented in an attempt to aid the training regimes, the decision-making process of coaches and players, and selection choices, as well as informing upcoming game strategies. A comparison of the team and shooting performances of the men’s BWB team during the 2016 Paralympic Games to the performances at the 2015 European Wheelchair Basketball Championships was completed. This comparison indicated the performances only partially aligned with the advice, however, quantifiable improvements were observed regarding the efficiencies of a number of areas. Following the 2016 Paralympic Games exploratory work was undertaken, moving away from the traditional positivist paradigm within the field to an interpretivist perspective, to understand if the coaches, players and support staff had elected i to use the data from the initial studies. The experiences of the coaches, players, support staff and the analyst were thematically analysed to present a story of the participants’ perceptions. Informed by the narratives, the establishment of trust was found to be key in cultivating relationships with coaches, players and support staff to increase awareness and buy-in of SPA. The arising power and micropolitical interplay between the coach, players and analyst can be softened through the development of rapport, which can, in turn, lead to an increase in the engagement with SPA by all stakeholders. Overall the findings of this thesis suggested regardless of how accurate the SPA data are at identifying the key determinates of success, without the buy-in of the coaches and the foundation of trust between all individuals within the SPA process, the marginal gains which SPA could unlock cannot emerge. Subsequently, a new model of how SPA can inform the coaching process is presented. The thesis also highlighted the importance of acknowledging that performance analysts should not just be seen as individuals who work and produce numbers but people who work with people and thus play an important role in making a direct and important contribution to elite wheelchair basketball performance. ii Acknowledgements I would like to express my sincere appreciation to my supervision team, Professor Derek Peters, Dr Gyozo Molnar and Dr Alun Owen, who have supported me throughout the entirety of the PhD process. Their collective knowledge, insightful comments, critical questions and words of encouragement have challenged my thinking and widened my research perspectives. I would like to thank the University of Worcester and British Wheelchair Basketball for co-funding a three-year studentship and providing opportunities to gain experience as a performance analyst. Thank you to the players, coaches and support staff who have been involved with the study and those who have remained in contact. I thank the academics and support staff from the Institute of Sport and Exercise Science, Institute of Science and Environment, the Research School and the Disability and Dyslexia Service who have provided helpful guidance, support and opportunities through this period, namely Kelvin Beeching, Dr Mark Johnson and Joanna Jervis. I thank my fellow research students for the thought-provoking discussions, words of inspiration and for all the fun we have had in the last four years. In particular, Dr Chris Faulkner who has been a fantastic friend, colleague and coffee companion acting as an excellent external sounding board, providing endless comments and suggestions throughout the writing process. I would like to thank my family for their love and support. Particularly to my mum, who has read every word of this thesis. Finally, the encouragement, support, patience and reassurance I have received from my partner, Mim Gee, has been invaluable. This work has taken over a significant part of our life together and I am extremely grateful to her for helping me through the completion of this PhD and ensuring I could chase my dreams. Thank you. iii Dissemination from this thesis Francis, J., Owen, A. and Peters, D. M. (In Review) ‘Making every ‘point’ count: Identifying the key determinants of team success in elite men’s wheelchair basketball’ Frontiers in Psychology (Content from Chapter Four of this thesis has been adapted for inclusion within this manuscript) Francis, J., Owen, A. and Peters, D. M. (2019) ‘A new reliable performance analysis template for quantifying action variables in elite men’s wheelchair basketball’ Frontiers in Psychology, 10, 1-16. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00016 (Content from Chapter Three of this thesis has been adapted for inclusion within this manuscript) Francis, J., Owen, A., Molnar, G. and Peters, D. M. (2017) ‘The performance analysis process in elite wheelchair basketball is “worthless without trust”’, ICCE global coaching conference - Challenging sport coaching frontiers: the role of sports science and technology, Liverpool John Moores University, UK, 31 July-2 August. Francis, J., Owen, A., Molnar, G. and Peters, D. M. (2017) ‘Modelling shooting performance across major international tournaments in elite men’s wheelchair basketball’, VISTA2017 - Opportunities, challenges in Paralympic sport science and sport medicine support, Toronto, Canada, 20-23 September. Francis, J., Owen, A., Molnar, G. and Peters, D. M. (2017) ‘Key determinants of team success in elite men’s wheelchair basketball’, The UK Paralympic performance conference, St Georges Park, Burton upon Trent, UK, 29-30 March. Francis, J., Owen, A., Molnar, G. and Peters, D. M. (2016) ‘Modelling shooting performance in elite men’s wheelchair basketball’, British Association of Sport and Exercise Sciences Conference, East Midlands Conference Centre, Nottingham, UK, 29-30 November. Francis, J., Molnar, G., Donovan, M. and Peters, D. M. (2015) ‘Trust within a high performance sport: A performance analyst’s perspective’, British Association of Sport and Exercise Sciences Conference, St. George’s Park, Burton upon Trent, UK, 1-2 December. Francis, J., Molnar, G., Donovan, M. and Peters, D. M. (2015) ‘Development of a valid and reliable performance analysis template for assessing team performance in elite men’s wheelchair basketball’, British Association of Sport and Exercise Sciences Conference, St. George’s Park, Burton upon Trent, UK, 1-2 December. iv Table of contents Abstract ........................................................................................ i Acknowledgements ..................................................................... iii Dissemination from this thesis ..................................................... iv Table of contents ......................................................................... v List of figures ............................................................................... x List of tables ............................................................................... xii List of appendices ..................................................................... xvi Glossary of key terms ............................................................. xviii Abbreviations and acronyms ...................................................... xx Chapter 1 Introduction ............................................................................... 1 1.1 Background ................................................................................. 8 1.2 Aims and objectives of this thesis ............................................... 9 1.3 Thesis structure ......................................................................... 10 Chapter 2 Literature review ..................................................................... 13 2.1 Overview ................................................................................... 13 2.2 Theoretical perspectives in SPA ............................................... 13 2.3 Validity and reliability in SPA ..................................................... 18 2.3.1 Establishing validity in SPA ..................................................

Load more