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The purpose of this paper is to discuss a procedure to assess individual performance in team sports in contexts of preassessment and formative assessment. An authentic assessment procedure based on the observation of players’ actions during matches yielded two performance indices: the efficiency index and the volume of play. A general nomogram is suggested for use with various team sports in order to produce a single performance score combining both indices. Content validity, concurrent validity (.74), and ecological validity are discussed. The interobserver reliability (>.90) of the data and the stability of performance (.88) are also examined. Some conditions are discussed for integrating the assessment procedure to the teaching-learning process with an active participation of the students in the collection and interpretation of the data. The proposed procedure is strictly game oriented and yields information reflecting both motor and tactical skills.

The debate regarding the teaching of sport and games appears to be more complex than a matter of technical versus tactical approaches. The authors identify facets of the debate. One of these facets concerns the undifferentiated use of the terms tactics and strategy. The authors argue that these two concepts need to be clarified if decision-making and critical-thinking are to be encouraged on the part of the students. A framework is put forward for the analysis of the functioning of team sports. The framework includes: (a) an overview of the internal logic of team sports based on two essential features, the rapport of strength and the competency network; (b) an operational definition of strategy and tactics as they relate to the internal logic of team sports; and (c) nine principles underlying tactics and strategy and presented as potential guides for teachers and students in the teaching-learning of team sports and games.