This contribution deals with the predictive power of the Skyrme Hartree Fock model. We discuss the phenomenological adjustment of the Skyrme energy functional and the choice of proper fit data.
We check the reliability in extrapolations to other observables and nuclei, using two strategies: first, comparison with data for observables not included in the fit, and second, an estimate of the extrapolation error by virtue of the least squares fitting techniques.