Must-Dos for Athlete Evaluations

Athlete evaluations are essential for making coaching decisions, tracking athlete development, and providing clear feedback. Ultimately, running efficient evaluations comes down to having a process that runs smoothly whether you are evaluating 50 or 500 athletes.

Whether you're running tryouts, camps, clinics, or mid-season check-ins, below are eight must-dos to help make your next athlete evaluation smoother & stress-free.

1. Customize evaluation criteria

Design evaluation templates based on the age group of your athletes. Older athletes are often evaluated on different criteria than younger athletes, and the number of skills assessed may also vary across age groups.

• A 12-year-old basketball player might be measured on change of pace, transitions, free-throw consistency, and lateral quickness. This age group would be measured on 12-15 skills.

• On the other hand, a 5-year-old basketball player might be measured on hand-eye coordination, following directions, and basic ball skills. This age group would be measured on 6-8 skills.

Tip: Try to keep your evaluation template consistent throughout the season to measure athletes on the same skills and track their progress.

2. Use a consistent scoring system

1. When building your evaluation template, use the same rating scale (either 1-5 or 1-10), so scores are interpreted consistently across all skills.

2. Don't leave a score of "5" or "3" open to interpretation; rather, define what performance looks like at each point on the scale. For instance, 3= meets expectations, or 5 = exceeds expectations (if using a 1-5 rating scale).

Tip: Leave space on your evaluation form for evaluators to write down any supporting comments. This feedback can be shared directly with an athlete (and their parents) after an evaluation to provide additional context for a score.

3.  Evaluate athletes in game-like situations

Skill-based drills are effective for evaluating technical ability; however, game-like situations should be used to assess decision-making, teamwork, and competitiveness.

For instance, if a basketball coach wanted to evaluate a player on their decision-making ability, they could set up 3 vs. 3 scrimmages and look for:

• Passing to an open player or forcing a shot?

• Reading the defense before passing or driving?

• Actions after a bad pass: do they rush the next possession, or reset?

4. Leverage multiple evaluators

Assign one evaluator to each drill station. For game-like situations, assign a block of players to each evaluator.

Having a single evaluator per station is important because it eliminates variability. If one evaluator scores hitting across softball athletes, they're likely to apply the same standard and judgment to everyone. Therefore, you're avoiding instances where Evaluator A might score 4/5 for good performance while Evaluator B scores 3/5 for that same level of performance.

5. Score athletes without hassle

Digital evaluation apps, like SkillShark, make it easy for evaluators to navigate between athletes and accurately enter scores. Scores can be entered using a sliding scale (or typed), and pre-filled comments & videos can be added alongside scores for supporting context.

Scores are automatically synced to the backend the moment they are entered in the app. No manual transfer of scores from paper forms to spreadsheets post-evaluation significantly reduces the risk of misentered or lost data.

6.  Review player insights

All drafting or tactical decisions should be backed up by objective data, not gut feelings or assumptions. That's why real-time, accurate player insights are essential to:

• View player rankings by individual skills or overall performance.

• Compare athletes to easily identify top performers.

• Track player progress across multiple events.

• Identify weaknesses early, before they become bigger issues in competition.

• Justify drafting decisions or positional changes to players & parents.

*SkillShark's advanced reporting auto-generates these reports the moment evaluations are complete, giving you instant access to rankings, comparisons, and progress tracking.

7.  Provide athlete feedback

Skip the hand-typed emails (and hour of work) that deliver only bare-bones feedback. With SkillShark, deliver personalized and in-depth report cards to athletes and their parents after any evaluation.

There's zero admin work on your end — scores, comments, videos, team averages, and developmental resources are automatically compiled into a pro-level report card for each athlete. These report cards answer the age-old questions, “Why didn’t my child make the team?” or “What can I work on to improve for next year?”

8.  Keep evaluation records

Save scores from previous camps, clinics, and training sessions to track athlete development over time.

Using SkillShark’s progress reports, monitor how athletes have progressed (or regressed) within select skills and share feedback with them throughout the season. Answer questions such as:

•  On a technical level, what can they do to improve?

•  If they've shown improvement, acknowledge their progress and identify what they should continue working on to develop.

Wrapping Up

Athlete evaluations aren't just about running a series of drills — they're about following the right process. By following these 8 must-dos, you'll walk away from your next evaluation with better data, fairer decisions, and more confident athletes.

Want to make your next evaluation stress-free? Book a walkthrough and see how SkillShark gives you the customization, time savings, and accuracy to run pro-level evaluations.