ABSTRACT
A considerable amount of research has been devoted to establishing the need for objective forms of analysis and their importance in the coaching process (e.g. MacDonald, 1984; Franks and Miller, 1986). They have clearly established the difficulties facing any single individual attempting to analyse and remember objectively the events occurring in complex team games. One of the main solutions to these inherent problems has been the use of notation analysis systems. Consciously or unconsiously, coaches, scouts and managers have adopted, designed and developed systems for gathering information. Over the last -three decades these have been improved by both workers in the field and sports science researchers, almost to the point where the design of the systems has become an end in itself. The aim of this work is to review not only the data that have been produced, but also assess the major innovations and developments in the systems used for notation analysis.
