Technology Every Team Must Have For Only $100
Performance analysis equipment has never been more accessible. There is wide-ranging technology that is inexpensive yet highly effective that any player, coach, or team can access to start analyzing.
A great piece of technology to start with is the very device you likely have near you 24 hours a day- your smartphone! Having the ability to record footage instantly creates many learning opportunities. I will often use my phone to film a movement (e.g. scrum profiling) to provide instant objective feedback. Using a phone also provides a great opportunity to engage injured players by asking them to record for you. Not only are you engaging them back into the session (how often do you see injured players hanging out on the sideline disengaged?), it also shares the workload and frees you up to coach.
To increase the learning environment further whilst using footage, you can guide your players with questioning that encourages them to think about their involvement at a deeper level. An example question relating to scrum profiling could be, “How did your body feel when you were in this position?” or “What adjustments would you make if you were to perform this movement again?”. This type of open-ended questioning provides a dialogue between coach and player and mitigates the risk of the player solely relying on being told what to do.
When filming live matches or even team shape at practice, I believe there are three inexpensive pieces of equipment that all teams should have, especially at the U16 level and above. These items are a video camera, tripod, and SD card. That is all you need to capture the footage and start analyzing. Ideally, you would record from somewhere with height. You might need to be creative if no height is readily available. I have seen a parked car on the side of the field with someone filming on the roof. I have also seen someone film from a 20ft hunting chair- very American! Joking aside, both great examples to get that little bit more height.
Another thing to consider is the quality of the footage. In a recent conversation with professional analyst Darren Lewis (check out his website here), he simply stated, “Your analysis is only as good as the footage you capture.” It seems simplistic to say, but I can’t stress this point enough. If the person filming forgets to follow the play (usually chatting with their mates) or zooms in too close or out, then analyzing accurately becomes difficult. I find it good practice to train a few people up at the start of the season and be specific with how you want the footage to be recorded.
Once you have obtained the footage and transferred it from your SD card to your laptop or computer, it’s time to get analyzing. I find this one of the most enjoyable parts of the coaching process. I will cover what to analyze in a future blog post, as that is a crucial component within the performance analysis model.
Here are some links for the camera, tripod, and SD card that you can get for less than $150 (£100)