Key performance indicators (KPIs) are commonplace in business and sport. They offer an objective means to link data and processes with performance outcomes. Yet, their application in sports performance, particularly team sports, is not without issue. Here, we review 4 key issues relating to KPI application in team sports; lack of a universal definition, complexity of performance, drifting from on-field performance goals with off-field targets, and agency issues across different key stakeholders. With these issues relating to sports performance KPIs in mind, we propose a complementary approach to help practitioners focus on implementing the conditions that create performance environments and opportunities for success in a complex sporting environment. Ongoing process trackers (OPTs) are quantifiable measures of the execution of behaviors and processes that create the environments, cultures, and conditions for successful performance outcomes. This approach equips sports science practitioners with key questions they can ask themselves and their team when starting to select and use OPTs in their program.
This brief excerpt from NSCA’s Essentials of Sport Science discusses skill-based key performance indicators (KPIs).
Personal trainersTSAC FacilitatorsCoachesExercise TechniqueProgram designTesting and EvaluationProfessional DevelopmentKey Performance IndicatorsGymnasticsFencingBiomechanical
Discover salary trends and average earnings for strength and conditioning coaches and sport scientists in the 2025 NSCA Salary Survey. Get your free summary now.
In this article, personal trainers and strength and conditioning coaches will learn how Football Club of Mumbaikars has worked to maintain and even improved the fitness profile of its athletes using this online training protocol, and provide a template for how to apply this protocol to the general population.
Personal trainersProgram designMuscular EnduranceAnaerobic CapacityPandemicPsychological PreparednessOnline Training
The National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA) announces today the release of the organization’s newest textbook, the NSCA’s Essentials of Sport Science. This cutting-edge publication brings together many of the world’s top experts from the sport science field to build a definitive resource for the profession.
This article describes the long-term athletic development programming pillars and suggests practical applications for strength and conditioning practitioners.
The NSCA is offering a new book that contains a holistic overview of the knowledge and skills required to support athlete and team performance as a modern-day sport scientist. Learn more here about this new resource.
As the second of a three part series, this article will focus on the Practitioner Pillars of LTAD, including relevant monitoring and assessment tools, as well as systematical progressions and individualized training programs for successful long-term physical development.
CoachesExercise ScienceExercise TechniqueProgram designTesting and EvaluationProfessional DevelopmentLTADLoad MonitoringMovement CompetencyPubertyRPEhs-coaching
As the final article of the three-part series on long-term athletic development (LTAD), this article will focus on enhancing physical fitness and participation in LTAD programs that promote physical fitness and physiological wellbeing, regardless of age, ability, and aspirations.