YOU CANNOT IMPROVE WHAT YOU CANNOT MEASURE
by Ian Shore
Each exercise was then specified, to each consist of either two or three clearly defined scenarios. For example, Exercise 1: Basic Posi7oning: Play the striker's ball to the Target Area in front of Hoop 1, from: A (The Start ‐ 21‐yards) Corner IV. B (14‐yards posi7oning) Hoop 4 (on centre line, 1 yard on non‐ playing side). C (8‐yards posi7oning) West boundary, opposite Hoop 1. The target area being described as a 4‐yard radius, 90 degree fan in front of a hoop. The full set of exercises and scenarios are downloadable from the CqE website as a 4‐player GC Skills Assessment Scorecard. To assist coaches, the exercises have been assigned to specific hoops on the court to allow more than one player to be assessed on the court at the same 7me. A webpage on the CqE website describes the GC Skills Assessment process in detail and provides the following suppor7ng downloadable files: Scorecard. Briefing.
Do you measure your improvement through your performance in tournaments, looking at the resul7ng increase in your handicap index points? If so, you may be interested in an alterna7ve. Last year, a small team (Richard Carline, Paul Francis and Ian Shore) from the CqE Coaching Commi8ee set themselves the task of defining a methodology, which would not be solely dependent on compe77ve play, focusing purely on iden7fying an individual’s strengths and weaknesses when playing mallet on ball. While it was accepted at the outset that this would leave tac7cal abili7es unassessed, the team considered that, if a methodology could be defined, it would: Assist a player / their coach iden7fy their strongest and weakest skills. Establish a benchmark against which a player’s progress could be measured. Serve as a benchmark for Duke of Edinburgh scheme croquet awards. There was also the possibility that, once sufficient scores had been collated, a score to handicap table could be produced which could serve as a guide to se9ng an ini7al handicap. With this in mind, the team, using as a springboard a scheme developed in USA with a similar goal, developed a set of 10 exercises. It was clear from the outset that for the exercises to be repeatable and comparable around the country, they would need to be very closely defined, with start posi7ons and success criteria very clearly stated. Trials were conducted which allowed the exercise defini7ons to be refined to produce what is called the GC Skills Assessment, comprising the following exercises: 1. BASIC POSITIONING
Exercise to Hoop Mapping. Exercise Set Up Guidance. Exercise Scoring Guidance.
Exercise Target Area Defini7on. Exercise Group Results Sheet. By using this standardised, CqE approved GC Skills Assessment, a player’s ability to play the described GC strokes can be scored consistently. Players can use their scores to iden7fy skills requiring development and to assess their progress against their previous scores. If you would like to add this to your coaching por6olio, as a next step, you are encouraged to visit the CqE website page and download the resources available there.
2. ADVANCED POSITIONING 3. STRAIGHT HOOP RUNNING 4. ANGLED HOOP RUNNING 5. BLOCKING 6. WIRING 7. CLEARING 8. STRAIGHT PROMOTING 9. STUNNING / STOPPING 10. JUMPING
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