Observation System for Analyzing Individual Boccia BC3

Abstract

Boccia is a Paralympic sport for athletes with locomotor dysfunction. The aim of this observational methodology study was to describe the design of an ad hoc observation instrument for analyzing individual boccia in the BC3 category (for athletes with severe functional impairment) and to show how it can be used in a practical setting to analyze technical and tactical aspects of the game. The observation instrument was designed based on the internal logic and rules of boccia and was then loaded into the Lince software program to create a simple coding tool. The content of the instrument was validated by a panel of experts with extensive experience in Paralympic boccia. The reliability of the resulting data was confirmed by analysis of interobserver agreement, with high kappa values obtained for all criteria. The practical application of the observation system was demonstrated by performing T-pattern analysis of two sample datasets, which revealed underlying behavioral patterns for isolated throws (synchronic) and successive throws (diachronic).