A Profile of Shots in the IBSA World Blind Football Championship 2010: Implications for Coaching

Association Football is one of the world’s most popular sports (Macbeth and Magee, 2006: Sport in Society, 9, 444-462), and the primary aim at the elite level is to win as many games as possible. Performance analysis is suggested to be a key tool in improving performance and many studies have been conducted in football in attempts to determine the most effective methods of goal scoring (Grant et al., 1999: Journal of Sports Sciences, 17, 826-827; Hughes and Franks, 2005: Journal of Sports Sciences, 23, 509-514). However, little, if any, similar research has been conducted in Disability Football, especially Blind Football. The purpose of the study was to analyse all shots attempted in the International Blind Sports Federations (IBSA) World Blind Football Championship 2010 in order to make recommendations for enhancing the coaching of shooting at individual and at international team levels. Media accreditation was obtained to film all twenty seven games of the tournament which were then analysed using SportsCode Elite Review software. Ethical approval was granted through Institute ethics procedures. Coding was informed by research supporting the segmentation of the pitch and goal into identifiable zones (Pollard and Reep, 1997: The Statistician, 46, 541- 550) so that shots could be categorised by outcome, location at the point of crossing the goalline, and location of the shot’s origin. Further analysis considered technique used in the shot’s execution, opposition location at the time of the shot, location of the striker’s guide behind the goal and the angle of approach prior to the shot. Nine hundred and sixty three shots were attempted during the twenty seven games with fifty one goals scored giving a conversion rate of only 5%. Preliminary data analysis would suggest that the majority of shots for each team (70-90%) were taken by an individual player. Final analyses should identify if there are any identifiable trends at the level of the individual, team and sport in relation to the most common shot characteristics. The data will be interpreted in order to make recommendations for coaching in Blind Football