Bad radar chart scales can mislead player scouting
20 May 2026
A radar chart can make the same player look better or worse depending on the scale. Use percentiles for rank, z-scores for distance from average, and raw numbers only when the scale is fixed and explained.
Scouts, analysts, and coaches use radar charts because they make a player profile easy to scan. The risk is that the shape can change even when the player’s output has not changed. A winger can look elite, average, or balanced depending on who he is compared with and where each axis starts and ends.
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