Katie is a rugby player being assessed on her strengths and areas for improvement. Her key strengths are her high concentration, ability to commit defenders when running crash ball lines, and making correct decisions at lineouts. Her main areas for development are flexibility due to being hypermobile, strength, speed, and power. Improving these physical attributes would make her more effective at the international level, especially in roles like scrums and tackles where strength is important. The document provides a detailed breakdown of Katie's performance traits and what aspects of her game need further training.

1. Unit 27
Task 2 – Performance Strengths and
Areas for Improvement

2. Strength 1/4
Excellence Trait: Concentration.
Concentration is a major psychological trait when it comes too competing in sport.
Concentration is the ability to maintain focus on the task. For Katie she received very high
scores on her concentration assessment from coach and myself. Because of Katie having this
high concentration means she can efficiently apply her abilities to the task, therefore in game
situations she is able to make full benefit of her decisions, for example being able to judge a
tackle correctly. If Katie were to become distracted it would mean she may miss tackles
therefore putting her team at a disadvantage. Distractions for Katie when taking part can
include, spectators, coaches but also physiological symptoms such as fatigue, for her to not get
side tracked and focusing on something else is an important skill for her to have when wanting
to progress from performance to elite levels. I believe for Katie this strength is vital to her game
play, and without it means her team would be lead to a disadvantage. The problem with
Concentration is that it is hard to be able to observe, and when done may be completed by self
analysis or body movements which may not be always an accurate measurement. Also it
accounts to an over all summary of her performance, but this high level of concentration may
not be the same throughout all games.
Describe: Give a detailed account of something
Explain: Give a detailed account to give the meaning of something with reasons. Include the ‘how’ and ‘why’ of the topic of interest
Critically Analyse: Give your opinion of the subject of interest – consider all of the evidence and then write about both the advantages and
disadvantages

3. Strength 2/4
• Excellence Trait: Running a Crash Ball Line
• Running a crash ball line, through games which have been observed, Katie has
shown that running a crash ball line is a strength of hers because she is able to
run at the defensive structure and able to commit more than 1 of their
defenders to a tackle, which will create more space when upon the attack. This
is important because it will create more of a line break for further play to be
create. From a breakdown which is created by Katie means her team is able to
realign and to slow down the attack if going to quickly and causing mistakes. By
Katie having this as a strength means that she is effective in committing players
therefore creating space on the pitch, by also creating this space means there is
more chance for the back line to have opportunity and space to attack at space.
I believe this to be critical for Katie to have as a strong trait because she is able
to put her team into an attacking advantage and can lead to a scoring
opportunity.
Describe: Give a detailed account of something
Explain: Give a detailed account to give the meaning of something with reasons. Include the ‘how’ and ‘why’ of the topic of interest
Critically Analyse: Give your opinion of the subject of interest – consider all of the evidence and then write about both the advantages and
disadvantages

4. Strength 3/4
• Excellence Trait: Making the correct decision when taking a lineout throw
• This is one of Katie strengths which was found when observing Katie, her
decisions that were made lead to a further attack without loss of possession. A
lineout throw is a complex skill, involving both accuracy and timing. Having an
effective throw can be the difference between winning and loosing a match
and can help to score tries. Having this as a strength also means that she is
aware of others who are around her and possible calls which they are calling,
which will influence her choice of throw. When considering evidence which
helped come to the observation of this was both observation and video
analysis, but also weather conditions in all were stable and didn't challenge
the type of throw she was able to do. By being able to complete the throw of a
high success rate means that she is helping out her team and gaining ground.
Describe: Give a detailed account of something
Explain: Give a detailed account to give the meaning of something with reasons. Include the ‘how’ and ‘why’ of the topic of interest
Critically Analyse: Give your opinion of the subject of interest – consider all of the evidence and then write about both the advantages and
disadvantages

5. Strength 4/4
• Excellence Trait: Control of Anxiety
• Anxiety is the reactions that people have to threats within the environment, for Katie this
environment may include spectators, opposition, evaluative spectators which can include
talent scouts and others. Anxiety can be in many forms including cognitive(thought
processes)and somatic (bodily responses) which could lead to her being distracted and less
confident which means its possible for Katie for start making incorrect decisions which
could end up in injury, for example if going into a tackle half heartedly. For the level that
Katie is playing at it is vital for her to control anxiety so that when coming against the
opposition who are of higher standards she is able to maintain herself in both cognitive
and somatic ways. As the same as concentration, assessing Katie level of anxiety in a
cognitive way can be complicated because of self report techniques therefore in certain
situations her anxiety may decrease but was unseen in recent performances. For Katie this
is a strength because having little anxiety means that she is confident in her abilities and
therefore will play to a high standard. For any elite athlete playing sport must be able to
control anxiety, if it goes uncontrolled the athlete will become an ineffective player and
will mean the team it as a weakness.
Describe: Give a detailed account of something
Explain: Give a detailed account to give the meaning of something with reasons. Include the ‘how’ and ‘why’ of the topic of interest
Critically Analyse: Give your opinion of the subject of interest – consider all of the evidence and then write about both the advantages and
disadvantages

6. Development Area 1/4
• Excellence Trait:Flexibility
• Flexibility is the range of movement possible and a joint. From the analysis of the athlete, it
was shown my myself and Mark Rugman that Katie flexibility is a weakness because of her
being hyper-mobile therefore having to much range of movement at a possible joint. Whereas
on Katie scoring her flexibility has a low discrepancy rating therefore being a strength, this is
because of me and Mark having seen her flexibility from a different perspective. This inhibits
Katie performance and also gives her a higher risk of injury in the joint areas. It is
recommended for athletes with hyper mobility to not take part in sports which involve
collision and impact, which could cause further pain to the joints, if undiagnosed the athlete
could become severely injured but this is dependent on the level of hyper mobility. Flexibility
in rugby is important to have but not too much otherwise can cause further injury for
example to Katie in a scrum she doesn't want to be over flexible so she is able to maintain a
strong body stance to not get pushed off the ball, but if she has high flexibility she may not be
able to get the strength in which she needs. This is a difficult area to work about due to being
a condition, but will need to focus in the area but having strengthening sessions to help
maintain her joints and to make sure that her joints do not over extend.
Describe: Give a detailed account of something
Explain: Give a detailed account to give the meaning of something with reasons. Include the ‘how’ and ‘why’ of the topic of interest
Critically Analyse: Give your opinion of the subject of interest – consider all of the evidence and then write about both the advantages and
disadvantages

7. Development Area 2/4
• Excellence Trait:Strength
• Strength is the ability of being physically strong and muscles being strong and
having the ability to resist weight. This is an important development area
because strength is the foundation of many skills and physicals abilities such
as power. For Katie Strength is particularly needed when creating tackles
which will mean their team is going backwards but also within scrums. By
having this as a focus area will mean that she will develop an area which in a
game will give her team an advantage in help of remaining a strong position
within the scrum and the strength will also help develop power which will help
her too turn over a scrum and to win the ball. I believe strength is a trait which
is the most important physical fitness component that will be beneficial to all
of Katie skill related components. Katie will be able to develop this with a
programme designed which will focus upon by using a weight programme
within gym sessions.
Describe: Give a detailed account of something
Explain: Give a detailed account to give the meaning of something with reasons. Include the ‘how’ and ‘why’ of the topic of interest
Critically Analyse: Give your opinion of the subject of interest – consider all of the evidence and then write about both the advantages and
disadvantages

8. Development Area 3/4
• Excellence Trait: Speed
• Speed is the distance the athlete is able to cover within a certain time. For Katie this is
important when ball carrying so that with speed she is able to break the opponents line
and to create a crash ball where she can carry the ball through a tackle leading her team
to an attacking opportunity . Having a good speed will be able to increase Katie’s power
which is involved in many areas of her game such as the rucks. This is a main
development for Katie was shown within the scoring and also from observation that
compared to the level which she wishes to be at her speeds needs to be improved to
make sure she is also able to recover quickly. But her speed can also be moving a
singular muscle part quickly, for example this would be in the line out throw, if she is
able throw quickly, it will increase her amount of power put into the throw therefore
making it more effective. Speed for Katie currently is at a good level, but in comparison
to higher levels will need to be improved. Speed is crucial to Katie game both in defence
and attack. Speed currently in attack when creating a break and trying to gain ground
needs to be improve so she is able to get around players without getting tackled.
Describe: Give a detailed account of something
Explain: Give a detailed account to give the meaning of something with reasons. Include the ‘how’ and ‘why’ of the topic of interest
Critically Analyse: Give your opinion of the subject of interest – consider all of the evidence and then write about both the advantages and
disadvantages

9. Development Area 4/4
• Excellence Trait:Power
• Power is the combination of strength and speed. In Katie’s game as playing a
hooker power in need both in her line out throws to make sure exception of the
skills is at its most so she needs power within her upper body, she also needs
power in the scrum and when committing tackles.This development area will be
improved upon training programmes of both strength and speed which have also
been identified as weaknesses to Katie sport. Power means she will be able to
exert great force over a short amount of time such as in a scrum where it is very
important for her to be powerful to turn over the ball. This will involve
development of type 2 muscle fibers within her body. I believe this to be one of
Katie most important improvement areas because as her position of hooker it is
important that she is able to be effective within the scrums and use the power she
has effectively in open play and currently isn't at the levels which she should be if
she is wanting to play for England 20’s within the next couple of years.
Describe: Give a detailed account of something
Explain: Give a detailed account to give the meaning of something with reasons. Include the ‘how’ and ‘why’ of the topic of interest
Critically Analyse: Give your opinion of the subject of interest – consider all of the evidence and then write about both the advantages and
disadvantages