A holistic approach to the diagnosis of football players: the psychological factor example

The construction of tools is crucial to achieving knowledge advances, as Ian Hacking suggests. In a world where information dictates rules, there is a necessity for solutions that counteract the superficiality imposed by a positivist scientific model. The primary aim of this work is to set the basis to help develop a diagnostic tool that really embraces the complexity and globality of the human (trans)formation process. With a systemic approach to sports, this exploratory and descriptive study aims to justify the conceptual framework that enables the integration of a new vision for sports diagnosis, beginning with a critical reflection on feedback gathered from a sample of top-level football coaches (n= 10) regarding the assessment of psychological competences. The results show consensus about the importance of the psychological performance factor, as well as the necessity for tools to assess it better. We conclude that a holistic perspective on sports diagnosis and intervention, considering data from different fields of knowledge coherently, is needed and already possible.