31 October 2007

The UKA performance team have introduced Performance Funnels as a way to help to identify whether athletes are on the right path to World and Olympic finals and the podium.

Simon Nathan, Acting Performance Programme Manager and funnel statistician for UKA, believes the funnels will improve performance towards future major events;

"The Performance Funnels give us another tool to evaluate an athlete’s progression towards a top 8 or Podium performance at the World Championships or Olympic Games. 

They are useful as they allow us to graphically see where an athlete sits compared to previously successful competitors in their event.  We used the funnels – along with the APT forms (which are both available to download from the UKA website), face-to-face interviews, and the expertise of our Performance Managers and Coaches – to select athletes onto this years World Class Podium and Development Plans. 

They are also a great tool for aspiring athletes to see what level of performance is really needed to get to the top." 

The concept is quite simple: an athlete compares their annual season’s best against the year-by-year progression taken by finalists and medallists at previous major championships.

A “countdown to success”, the funnels for each event (which will be updated every year) enable athletes and coaches to keep on track to the top.

View Performance Funnels

Athlete Performance Template for podium athletes

Athlete Performance Potential Template for development & talent athletes