Coaches Guide to Basketball Athlete Assessments

Conducting basketball assessments is one of the most valuable methods coaches have to guide decisions, track player progress, and improve individual (and team) development.

Without proper assessments, training programs are based on assumptions and gut feelings rather than objective data. We run you through:

• Key areas to evaluate

• Recommended frequency for assessments

• Best practices for providing athlete feedback

• Leveraging data to guide tactical decisions

Choose Criteria Relative to Age

Due to differences in physical, cognitive, and experiential factors, athletes’ skill level varies by age. As coaches, it is essential to take this into consideration when creating your evaluation templates and determining what to score athletes on.

Here are some skills to add to your basketball evaluation template depending on age:

Ages 6-9: running speed, balance, jumping ability, dribbling basics, shooting basics

Age 10-12: acceleration, agility, dribbling speed, shooting accuracy, layups

Age 13-15: rebounding, endurance, shooting consistency, dribbling under pressure, layup consistency

Assess Consistently During Season

Evaluating athletes at tryouts to draft teams shouldn’t be the only time for assessment. Without conducting evaluations throughout the season, how will you know how players have progressed? How will you make data-backed tactical decisions throughout the season—on line-up selection or game strategy adjustments?

As a rule of thumb, here are 3 key times during the year to assess athletes:

1. Tryouts-  At the beginning of the season, use this as a baseline to see where your athletes rank on core skills. *Keep the scores on hand for future evaluations to compare against.

2. Mid-season evaluations- Use this as a halfway check-in point to assess athletes. How have they progressed so far, and what steps can they take to continue improving throughout the season?

3. Post-season evaluations- As the season comes to an end, make this an opportunity to evaluate athletes one last time and provide feedback. How have they progressed during the season? What can they work on for next year?

Provide Athlete Feedback After Assessments

Take the time to turn data into actionable player feedback. Athletes don’t just want to know if they made the team or not; they want to know the why behind it.

This is where SkillShark’s report cards come in. Athlete report cards are auto-drafted & ready to view based on the evaluation data collected. Minutes after an assessment is complete, simply navigate to the report card section, customize visibility settings, and send personalized report cards directly to the inboxes of your athletes.

Athlete report cards will show:

• What skills did they excel in? Tip: Show the team average for each score. This provides an objective, data-driven view of how an athlete compares to their teammates.

• What skills could they improve on? Tip: Again, show the team average for that score. This isn’t meant to single out or __ the athlete; rather, they can use this as a benchmark for how much they could improve.

• How could they improve on these skills? Any comments that were entered by an evaluator or coach during an assessment will automatically be added to the report card below that respective score. Comments are beneficial to provide additional context, helping athletes interpret the score and/or highlight opportunities for improvement.

Use Player Data to Guide Tactical Decisions

Conduct assessments throughout the year and use evaluation data to guide tactical decisions. Whether you’re setting your lineup at the start of the season or adjusting your game strategy at the mid-year point, this data enables you to make confident, objective, and data-backed decisions.

1) Lineup Selections

At the beginning of your season, determine which players are top performers across defence, shooting, and passing to select your starting lineups accordingly.

Want a quick yet accurate way to determine your lineup selection? SkillShark’s pre-built reports hold the key. After any evaluation, simply navigate to the all-scores report, and player ranking grids will be immediately available for your viewing. This approach lets you deep dive into how athletes rank across any skill measure without manual report setup (or stress).

Below is an all-scores report for a basketball team. By clicking the arrow button on any column, coaches can instantly see how players rank across core skills (passing, dribbling, defense, etc..) or overall.

2) Game Strategy Adjustments

Looking to make adjustments throughout the season? Use player data collected from previous assessments to adjust roles, rotations, and strategies.

Speed- look for fast sprint times, endurance/repeated sprint ability, and agility (ability to stop, pivot, and accelerate). These players will improve your team’s offense and defensive strategy, proving to be valuable in quick transitions, controlling the game’s pace, and supporting fast breaks. 

Shooting- look for accuracy, range, and shot selection/decision-making. These players can score consistently from mid-range or beyond the arc (both forcing defense to stretch out).

Defense- look for on-ball defense ability, lateral quickness, and reaction time. These players can prevent scoring opportunities, force turnovers, and disrupt the flow of the game.

Wrapping Up

Looking for a way to cut evaluation time in half? SkillShark's basketball evaluation app serves as a powerful platform to digitally score players and access instant player rankings & comparisons—anytime during the year (remember, more evaluations are key). Data from these real-time reports can then be used to provide better athlete feedback and leverage tactical decisions from game strategy adjustments to line-up rotations.