The Performance Analysis Process in Elite Wheelchair Basketball is "Worthless Without Trust"

Introduction
Performance Analysis (PA) has been employed within the coaching process to support the delivery of augmented feedback in a wide range of sports (Hughes & Bartlett, 2015). Through exploring the perceptions of coaches and players towards PA, its impact can be evaluated and areas for improvement highlighted (Bampouras et al., 2012; Wright et al., 2016). Previous research has explored coach and player perceptions of a range of PA provision from evaluation of ten 30-40 minutes feedback sessions (Groom & Cushion, 2005) to evaluation of PA support over a four year period (Bampouras et al., 2012). No study, however, has explored coach and player perception of PA provision within a Paralympic sport over any duration of service provision, let alone throughout a 4-year Paralympic cycle. The aim of this study, therefore, was to explore coach and player perceptions of the PA process within an elite men’s international wheelchair basketball programme over the four-year period leading up to and including the 2016 Rio Paralympic Games.

Method
Semi-structured interviews were conducted with three members of coaching staff and four players from a men’s international wheelchair basketball team. In the interview they were asked to reflect on the integration of a PA process during the four-year period and how the analyst supported the process. The interviews were transcribed verbatim and returned to participants for member-checking. Once participants confirmed the content, the transcripts were subjected to inductive thematic analysis and a triangulation process.

Results
Two overarching themes emerged from the narrative: (1) barriers to the use of PA to inform practice and (2) the establishment of the coach-analyst and player-analyst relationship. The first theme included aspects of availability, time, knowledge of the discipline, ability to utilise technology and conflict with a coach’s philosophy. The second theme resulted from emerging narratives surrounding communication, reputation and collective experiences.

Discussion and Conclusion
The person-implementation framework (Rizzuto & Reeves, 2007) was utilised to help explain the main barriers associated with using PA into problem sources, failure symptoms and leverage points. Sztompka's (1999) primary and secondary trustworthiness theory was then used to interpret how the development of a strong relationship between coaches, athletes and analysts could help remove any barriers. Coaches and players also believed future exposure and education to the possibilities of PA support was required. Through enhancing individuals’ knowledge and developing strong relationships, coaches and players could engage more actively within the PA process to inform practice.