Problems with Monitoring and Evaluating Mental and Emotional factors

Although monitoring and evaluating is an extremely important part of the Cycle of Analysis, it can throw up some problems. This is particularly the case with Mental and Emotional factors which are very subjective and difficult to quantifiably measure. Let’s consider how they could be problematic when monitoring and evaluating progress.

Q) Explain how it may be difficult to monitor and evaluate your progress in Emotional factors. (4).

‘One difficulty of monitoring and evaluating Emotional factors is the reliability of the information as only the performer truly knows how they feel. This means that no objective test can show how well someone has progressed as it is a consequence of their feelings. This can, therefore, lead to them lying as they want to impress their coach into thinking that their programme has not been a waste of time. This could lead to their information being inaccurate and unreliable and them not fully developing their initial weakness.’

‘Another difficulty with monitoring and evaluating Emotional factors is that it if the performer does a re-test, their feelings might not be exactly the same as when they first carried it out. This means that a performer could have felt very optimistic when first completing the questionnaire but when it came to the re-test, they may have felt down meaning that their feelings may cloud their judgement. As a result, they would be likely to complete the re-test on a more negative note which might not fully indicate their progress. This can lead to them working on a supposed weakness for longer than necessary.’

‘Also, if the re-test was not carried out in the same conditions as before, it could cause difficulties when monitoring and evaluating the Emotional factor. This means that if the initial test was done at home but the re-test was done at the training ground, the performer may not answer it correctly as they are desperate to get back out and train. This can lead to them rushing it and not having valid comparisons between the two sets of data.’

‘A final difficulty with monitoring and evaluating Emotional factors is that the performer may not fully understand the questions if doing a questionnaire. This means that they may misinterpret what a question is asking of them, fill it out incorrectly and have invalid comparisons. This can lead to them then wrongly identifying further areas for development when they may, in fact, be a strength.’