The further up and to the left the player is, the better.

The slope of the curve represents the average hit percentage for the team as a whole, and will be 1 for a hit percentage of 100% (36% for this team). The plot below вЂ“ number of throws against number of hits (data from Euro2018) вЂ“ shows a linear relationship with a line outlining the expected hit percentage. How does throwing relate to the game of Dodgeball?Д¬learly, the more one throws, the more hits one can expect to make. As such, players usually differ less with regard to this skill, and as you will see later, it also predicts less of net points scored and game outcome than throwing skill. How a player defends will depend on the individual profile, skill set, and athleticism, but more so on the opponent. One can say that precision is a limiting factor and velocity is an enabling factor.Дodging ability is a bit more complex, as there are many factors that influence it (such as athleticism, reactive ability, catching skill, tactical knowledge of the opponentвЂ™s skill and favourite place to aim etc.), and there are many ways in which it can be expressed (one can deal with an approaching ball by jumping, laying down, moving sideways, catching, or blocking). Increasing throwing speed will allow the player to throw with higher precision at a higher velocity, only if the precision is already in place. Using this logic, it makes more sense to first improve precision. The hit percentages of the players will markedly differ at the end of the game. Player B can throw at 80% of maximum, where average precision is very high, and instead throw all 10 balls within an area of 30cm around the foot, while having the same risk of throwing a catch. To avoid throwing a catch, player A will have to throw their hardest, which invariably causes low precision, and 10 such shots may have a spread of about 1.5m around the intended target (such as the left foot of the opponent). Balls travelling over 80km/h are very hard to catch. Player A throws at a maximal 80km/h, player B throws 100km/h. Consider two players with identical precision. The closer you throw to your individual maximal velocity, the worse your aim gets.

Regarding velocity, the faster you throw, the less time you give the defender to react to your shot and dodge, block, or catch it. The case for improving precision speaks for itself, so I wonвЂ™t say anything more about that.

I will show in later posts how these less obvious skills can be partly estimated and included in the analyses. This ignores decision making ability, which is harder to measure and include in the analyses.

Underhand throw elements