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

2. Strength 1/4 Excellence Trait: Confidence
Describe / Explain / Critically Analyse:
Confidence is believing in your ability. Having confidence is very important to an athlete as they need to make quick certain decisions which they need to be confident about, confidence allows them to try harder things which is important in football because it’s the harder things like attempting a hard through ball or taking on a man which leads to a goal. Russell's confidence scored very high, especially by himself which shows the high confidence levels he has. When the team is losing and playing bad it takes a few individuals on the team like Russell to have the confidence to get on the ball and make things happen for the team and get them back in the game. In my opinion Russell's confidence is very important to his game because he needs the confidence to go with his ability to play at the level he does, he believes he is good enough to play and that confidence translates onto the pitch in his performance and to his teammates . The disadvantage of having such a high confidence level is that he needs to maintain his high confidence level to carry on performing well as a sudden drop in his confidence could cause a serious dip in his performance.
 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: Balance
Describe / Explain / Critically Analyse:
Balance is the ability to move or stay in a position without falling or losing control. Russell scored very good balance score both his coach and himself. Balance is very important for a footballer as they need to be able to move quickly and make sharp movements of the legs to control the ball and so they need good balance to allow them to stay in control of there body while stretching or jumping to get the ball. The advantages for having good balance In football is that you can stay in control of your body and movements while moving at high speeds and this is very advantageous for when Russell is attacking because he will need to change direction quickly which will require his agility but he will also need good balance to keep his body in control and not fall over when he is trying to beat his man. In my opinion balance is one of the most vital skills needed for a football player because it is required for the whole game in every aspect, running, jumping, passing, shooting etc. it is especially important for a left back because he needs good balance to stay in control of his body when changing body position and direction quickly when he is trying to beat his opponent when attacking and to be able to stay with and defend against his attacker. The disadvantages he would have if he lost his balance would be that he wouldn’t be able to keep his entire body under his control when trying to run quickly and perform turns and jumps, this takes a lot of stability out of his game and he may start to become clumsy when he is playing.
 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: Speed
Describe / Explain / Critically Analyse:
Speed is the rate somebody travels at, across our three scores speed was always a strength for Russell. Speed for a footballer is very important especially a left back as having speed will give more chance of beating his opponent when attacking, it also means he can recover quicker and make recovery tackles on a player who has run past him. Speed is a big advantage for Russell as players who play at county standard will all be very technically good however not all of them will have good speed and so this will give Russell an advantage over a lot of his opposition. The full backs having speed is very important to the balance of the defense because often the centre backs will be taller but not as fast and so they need to be able to win headers while the smaller full backs like Russell need to have speed to cover balls in behind the defense. In my opinion speed is very important for a left back as it can give them a big edge on there opposing man when attacking but more importantly it’s a big advantage for him defending as he can keep up with attackers who try to take the ball past him, his speed is also a big advantage for the whole defense as he can cover them and make lots of recovering tackles. His speed means sometimes can make up for his technical shortcomings as he can make up his mistakes and keep getting into good attacking positions. A disadvantage may be that he becomes over dependent on his speed and thinks it will always allow him to recover mistakes and this may lead to him becoming very sloppy and complacent.
 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: Succsessfully making tackles Describe / Explain / Critically Analyse:
Successfully making tackles is his ability to get the ball of the opposing man, this is very important for a defender as it can stop opposing attacks and consequently start a counter attack for his team. Russell had a high triangulated score on tackling which is very important for a defender because first and foremost as a defender he has to defend and making tackles is a very big part of that. Being a good defender individually is important but its also very important for him to play well in unison with the rest of the defense. In my opinion being able to tackle is vital for Russell as he is a defender and his main priority is to defend and making tackles means he is doing just that, tackling is part of having a good defense and having solid defense is the basis to every team, and from there they can start to attack. Russell can make tackles on his man and then when he has one the ball back he can then start to counter attack. The disadvantages that may arise from Russell being good at tackles is that he may start trying to make tackles when he should just stand and jockey, and so he will dive in and get beat and that causes big problems for the rest of the defense. Having a defender who is very strong at tackling is a major advantage for the whole team because they can have him mark and play against the best dribbler of the opposing team to null his threat and allow the rest of the defense to deal with the other threats.
 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: Winning headers
Describe / Explain / Critically Analyse:
Winning headers is winning ariel dual with your head. Its very important for a defender to be able to win headers because they face a lot of balls crossed in the box which they have to defend and win headers against attackers. Russells weaknesses from headers is a very big problem for the team because the opposition can see this and position there best headers against him and he will not be able to win the headers against him and that will lead to the opposition getting lots of chances. He will need to work on his headers because its major weakness for a defender to have, improving his strength and power could improve his chances of winning headers as he will be able to jump higher and hold of his man, most importantly working on technique will help him to win headers. His poor heading ability is a major weakness for the whole team because even if the rest of the defense are good headers the opposing team can still just target Russell from crosses and he needs to be able to compete and win the headers to stop his team conceding regularly from headers he’s lost. An example of Russell needing to be able to win headers is from every cross that comes into the box, defending the near post when the cross is coming from his side and then tucking in and defending at the back post when a cross is coming from the opposite wing.
 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: Flexibility
Describe / Explain / Critically Analyse:
Flexibility is the ability for your joints to move in a full range of motion. Having good flexibility in football is important because you are always stretching to make tackles and control the ball, you will also be stretching your legs in lots of different positions to control the ball. Having bad flexibility is a disadvantage for Russell because it means he cant stretch as far to win tackles and if he does he may injure himself by overstretching causing a muscle tear or snap. In my opinion flexibility is extremely important in football as you always have to be stretching, and you need to use a full range of motions, for example lifting your leg up very high to control a ball that is coming down from the sky , and by having poor flexibility Russell is at a disadvantage and also at an increased risk of injury. To improve his flexibility he should look into doing activities like yoga and doing a range of stretches daily. The advantages he will gain from improved flexibility will be that he will have a greater range of movement at the joints and this means he can stretch further for tackles without risking injury, an example of this would be Russell stretching out his leg to make a sliding tackle on an attacker.
 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: Concentration
Describe / Explain / Critically Analyse:
This is the focusing of all your attention. In this case its Russell’s ability to focus all his attention on the football and the game he’s playing in. concentration is vital for a footballer as it’s a very fast paced game with a lot of different aspects going on at the same time and so complete concentration is needed to keep up with the game. For Russell to have poor concentration is a big disadvantage for him especially as he plays in defense and that requires a lot of concentration as you need to always be watching and marking your man as well keeping a line in unison with the rest of your defense. he needs to work on his concentration with the rest of his defense as they all need to be in unison and know to do the same thing at the same time, like stepping up to play somebody offside, this requires immense concentration from Russell and the rest of his defense because of they mistimes it by not even a second they will keep the striker onside and they will have a free run on your goal. The advantages of good concentration is that you can be fully focused on the game and this means he will be far more aware to everything that is going on in the game, allowing hi to read the game which is a great attribute for a defender to have. To work on his concentration he should make sure he has no distractions going into the game and that he knows exactly what he has to do so he can fully focus on it.
 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: Aerobic Fitness
Describe / Explain / Critically Analyse:
Aerobic fitness is your ability to take oxygen and use it to produce energy for your muscles. Aerobic fitness is needed in football because you need to be able to run and work at a medium intensity for 90 minutes, having good aerobic fitness means you can cover more ground and run more which makes you more effective. The advantage of having good aerobic fitness is that you can run for longer and do not run out of energy as quickly as your opponents and this allows you to work harder and for longer than your opponents giving you an advantage as the game goes on. By having bad aerobic fitness Russell will not be able to work as hard at a high intensity and so the longer the game goes on he wont be able to maintain his quality of performance and so it will drop as his energy levels deplete. I think that aerobic fitness is the basis of athletes as they need to have aerobic fitness to work and play and then after that all there other skills come in. An example of the disadvantage of Russell having bad aerobic fitness would be clear to see in every game he plays in, as the game progresses he will become more and more fatigued and lose his energy, this effects the speed and frequency that he can rup up the line to attack and also his capability to defend against his man and make covering tackles, this can be a weakness that effects the whole game as the opposing team may notice his poor aerobic fitness and consequently target him more in the later stages of the game. Aerobic fitness is easy to improve by continuous training methods.
 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