Social forecasting in sports: opportunities for using the expert survey method

Sport is one of the areas of social life where scientific forecasting was applied quite late: the surge of interest in this topic in our country occurred in the 1970s. However, the scientific approach is still insufficiently developed and often gives way to intuitive foresight. Among the methods used in sports forecasting there are the following: method of extrapolation, modeling, and types of expert survey. The present study considers the question of possible application of the method of expert assessment in predicting sports results (individual indicators of athletes, as well as teams, matches, etc.) through the example of interviews with coaches. The study showed that not all experts are familiar with scientific methods of forecasting and only half of the respondents use them when planning training. Many researchers note the method of expert assessment as one of the most reliable, but when predicting results in sports, it is worth using a comprehensive approach.