Performance Monitoring

"Provide objective data to coaches so that they can make informed decisions" - Jocelyn Mara

Performance Monitoring is an increasingly important part of High Performance Sport as the reliance on sport science and analytical data is the most available it has ever been.

Examples of performance monitoring include:

- GPS Data from training and matches

- Playing styles from opposing teams

- Frequency of individual phenomena in a specific sport

These examples can be achieved with the use of wearable technologies and the use of motion and video tracking.

As Jocelyn Mara indicates in her 2015 interview, dealing with coaches is fundamental to good performance monitoring. She indicated that coaches do not want to see all of the data, rather "visually pleasing" summaries such as graphs. The use of software "SpiIQ" is one that she uses to build such summaries.

Wearable Technologies -

One of the main advances in technology for elite sport in recent times is the use of "wearables". They have been designed to enhance player welfare and player performance. One of the main functions of wearables from an Analytical standpoint is to record GPS data through Location Services. This tracks a large set of movement for particular players in a team. Advancements in this technology have lead to more data around a players 'inertial' movements; whereby it tracks the smaller, more consistent moves made by an athlete while training and playing.

The use of wearables, as described by Wearable technology company Catapult, is designed as a "bottom-up" approach. This means that the primary focus and pillars of the technology focus on athlete management. There may be as many as 800-900 data points per second. This then filters out to wider stakeholders such as coverage benefits and fan engagement. Part of a unique viewing experience for someone tuning in to a sports broadcast at home is the ability to identify just how physically demanding the game is. Example of thus may include total distance covered by an AFL midfielder in a game, or a real-time reading of a players heart rate after a long run. The ability to provide this type of information is all bought about by wearables.

Learning Journey -

There is a lot of data available around Performance Monitoring. It is somewhat overwhelming when looking through recommended readings and helpful tools as there is just so much that is relevant.

I have had very limited experience personally with video tracking/monitoring. I can certainly appreciate, however, the importance it can play in further evolving high level sport. When taking in to account the vast amount of data collected at any given time - there will certainly be differing results based on very small changes in how an athlete operates.

Having a highly skilled performance analyst would be at the forefront of priority for many professional sporting organisations.

#GPS #wearables