Performance Analysis and Fitness Testing

What Performance Analysis and Fitness Testing covers

Performance Analysis and Fitness Testing is examined in AS Unit 1, Exploring physical education. It covers the coaching process and approaches to performance analysis, video, notational and time-motion analysis, laboratory and field-based fitness testing and validity, reliability and interpreting test results.

The 4 subtopics

Each one has its own page. WJEC AS Physical Education students sit this topic in the first year.

• The coaching process and approaches to performance analysisThe stages of the coaching process, why coaches analyse performance, preparing for an opponent, the limits of real-time observation, qualitative and quantitative analysis, and the physical, technical, tactical and behavioural aspects of performance.Open →
• Video, notational and time-motion analysisSplit-screen, slow-motion and frame-by-frame video, hand and computerised notation, time-motion analysis for a rugby winger, and GPS tracking to measure and manage player workload.Open →
• Laboratory and field-based fitness testingLaboratory and field tests with their advantages and drawbacks, direct VO₂ max testing, the multi-stage fitness test, lactate threshold testing, sport-specific tests for rowers and footballers, and testing sedentary people safely.Open →
• Validity, reliability and interpreting test resultsValidity, reliability and relevance, the multi-stage fitness test for a swimmer, improving reliability, motivation, normative tables, comparing with previous results, a worked sit-and-reach improvement, and using results to plan training.Open →

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

Take Performance Analysis and Fitness Testing further

The same content, four other ways.

Commonly confused

Pairs that lose marks when they are blurred together.

• Qualitative analysis vs Quantitative analysis

  Qualitative analysis: judging the quality of a performance by description and opinion. Quantitative analysis: measuring a performance with numbers, statistics and objective data.

• Validity vs Reliability

  Validity: the extent to which a test measures what it claims to measure. Reliability: the consistency of results when a test is repeated in the same conditions.

• Laboratory test vs Field test

  Laboratory test: a fitness assessment carried out in controlled conditions with specialist equipment. Field test: a fitness assessment carried out in a sporting setting with simple equipment.

Questions from this topic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

1. 1

   What are the main stages of the coaching process?

   Model answer

   The coach observes the performance and analyses it against a model or target. The coach then gives feedback and plans practice before evaluating again.

2. 2

   Why do coaches observe and analyse performance?

   Model answer

   Analysis identifies a performer's strengths and weaknesses. The coach can then base feedback, goals and training plans on the findings.

3. 3

   How can performance analysis help a coach prepare for an opponent?

   Model answer

   Analysis of an opponent's previous matches reveals their tactics and patterns of play. The coach can then build a game plan that targets their weaknesses.

4. 4

   Why is real-time observation alone an unreliable way to analyse performance?

   Model answer

   A coach can only watch a small part of the action at once. Human memory is limited and recalls only a fraction of the key events.

5. 5

   How can a coach's emotions and expectations distort real-time observation?

   Model answer

   A coach may see what they expect or hope to see. Emotional involvement in the result can bias the judgement.

6. 6

   Why has technology become central to performance analysis?

   Model answer

   Technology records performance for replay, slow motion and measurement. Analysis becomes more accurate and more objective.

What is inside Levo

Six ways to work the same material.

Performance Analysis and Fitness Testing revision questions

Is Performance Analysis and Fitness Testing examined at AS in WJEC Physical Education?

Yes. It sits in AS Unit 1, which you take in the first year, so it is on the AS paper as well as counting towards the full A level.

What does Performance Analysis and Fitness Testing cover in WJEC AS-Level Physical Education?

4 subtopics: the coaching process and approaches to performance analysis, video, notational and time-motion analysis, laboratory and field-based fitness testing and validity, reliability and interpreting test results. Each one has its own page with questions and model answers.

How is Performance Analysis and Fitness Testing organised?

By the WJEC 601-8485-1 specification, subtopic by subtopic, so it matches the order you are taught it in.