In the Opinion of Elite Volleyball Coaches, How Do Contextual Variables Influence Individual Volleyball Performance in Competitions?

The main objective was to know the elite coaches’ opinions regarding the relevance, definition, and importance of volleyball contextual variables to measure individual performance in competition. After performing a literature review, an instrument to gather the opinion of the world’s elite volleyball coaches was elaborated by four volleyball specialists. The sample of experts consisted in 20 world’s elite volleyball coaches who met at least three experience years in first division or national teams. The instrument collected experts’ information on the contextual variables in relation to relevance, definition, and importance. Cronbach’s α and Aiken’s V coefficient were used to test the reliability and content validity of the contextual variables, respectively. To compare the importance of the contextual variables U de Mann-Whitney and Kruskal-Wallis tests were used. Results showed that opposition level, set period, score difference, results of the previous set, competitive load variables, high level, final periods ≥20, and high load categories were relevant (Aikens V > 0.70). In addition, high level, final period ≥20 and ≥+10, and high load categories were significantly more important (p < 0.05). We conclude that, according to the elite coaches, the contextual variables should not be analyzed separately. Future studies should consider contextual variables dynamically.