DEVELOPMENT AND VALIDITY OF THE FRONT CRAWL TECHNIQUE ASSESSMENT TOOL: A PILOT STUDY

Swim coaches conduct the technique analysis themselves, through observation and qualitative assessment. The latter is based on their own knowledge and experience. They have to identify the technique mistakes and assess them in terms of their impact on the swimmer's performance. Recognizing this, there is a clear need for an assessment tool which can help swimming instructors and coaches in their work with swimmers of different quality levels. The study aimed to first develop and then validate a tool for the front crawl technique assessment (FCTA). Twenty-one experienced swimming instructors and coaches evaluated 48 mistakes most common in the front crawl for their impact on swimming performance. Based on their perceptions, we developed the FCTA tool. By using the FCTA, we numerically evaluated the mistakes that occurred during participants’ maximal 50-meter front crawl test. We found a strong correlation between both the times achieved and amounts of numerically evaluated mistakes made by the participants in the swim test. These results indicated that the FCTA could be a valid tool to effectively assess the technical skills of intermediate and advanced level swimmers in front crawl. However, this was a pilot study, so all conclusions are preliminary and require further research.