Purpose In the field of ice hockey, scientific-based methods focus primarily on assessing non-specific motor skills. To assess specific skills, "expert" opinion is used. In this paper, we outline the use of item response theory and Guttman scale techniques to develop a puck control assessment tool tailored for ice hockey players aged from 6 to 15 years. Methods The item bank containing 74 items was created. Subsequently, these items underwent rigorous testing and analysis using the Rasch model and the Mokken analysis and involved multiple iterations of item selection for the final tool. Analysis was performed on data collected from 357 participants between the ages of 6 and 15 years. Results Item difficulty values ranged from - 2.901 logits for the easiest item to 4.161 logits for the most difficult item. The model fit was verified by the goodness-of-fit assessment using Pearson`s chi-square test. The value was p = 1. Item characteristic curves were plotted. The person-item map was made and the test information function with standard errors was performed. Reliability was calculated by Cronbach`s alpha at a = 0.929, with confidence interval {0.918; 0.939}, while reliability assessed by the Mokken analysis was rho = 0.94. When the Guttman error was analyzed, 2 out of 3 participants did not show any Guttman errors and all items reached values greater than 0.65. Conclusions: The assessment tool containing 17 items was designed for assessing the level of puck control ability in ice hockey players ranging in age from 6 to 15 years.
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