For many hours he pored over these films, counting the number of times each man succeeded in his assignment, and slugged, and put his head down. Then with these results tabulated, he searched for correlations. And he found them, although the results did not correlate all the way down the line.
The team divided roughly into three groups:
1. Five or six men who had exceedingly high scores of covert aggression, were rated extroverted, rarely submarined, and most frequently slugged (etc.) opponents. These were the super-aggressive players.
2. Five or six men who also had high scores of covert aggression, but frequently submarined, and more often came off worse in carrying off assignments and individual battles with opponents. These men had a high aggression score because they were frustrated in their efforts. The frequent submarining-to which can be attributed missed blocks and tackles-is due to fear, which in turn would raise the aggression rating.
3. The majority of the team, that moved along more evenly. These men had low scores on aggression, and middle-range scores on the other four factors. Practically all of the best players on the team were in this group, according to Stone. He is naturally unwilling to reveal names.
TAT Analysis Could Be Valuable
Pending confirmation from the check test now running at the other college. Stone is willing to say that coaches could find this method of analysis useful. With the huge squads of a modern football team, a handy player-by-player analysis such as this would be very useful in paring down the list, eliminating most of the men in group two, for instance.
From the Navy's point of view, too, this could be very useful. The Navy wants officers who go calmly about their business in emergencies; it does not want the kind of super-aggressive heroes you find in group one. Perhaps Navy commissions in the future will be given out on the basis of TAT tests-who knows?
Who knows what the future will bring in scientific coaching? Twenty-five years ago no coach used movies-now you can't even lead a high school team without them. Today no one uses TAT . . .
One thing, says Rocky. "You can perfect this system as much as you want, but it will never be a substitute for a 210-pound tackle who can do the 100 in ten seconds."