Coaches Know More About Their Cars Than Their Players
As strange as it may sound, when it comes to performance and health, many coaches can manage their cars better than they can manage their players. Every time their car goes into the shop, a full history of diagnostic tests, odometer readings, scheduled maintenance recommendations and past problems are available from a few keystrokes of the service computer system. Take the vehicle out on the road for a long drive and the dashboard displays the speed, miles covered, fuel level and warning lights for any pending sub-system malfunctions.
Until recently, this type of in-depth information and tracking data for athletes was not easily captured in a single database system. Metrics from training and competition needed to be collected manually then consolidated into a general purpose spreadsheet or desktop database. If the player changed teams or moved up or down to different levels within the same club, any data collected was often lost to the next coaching staff.
However, as with most technology evolutions, a seismic shift has taken place at the elite levels of sport. Top clubs and leagues recognize that long term player development requires a long term player development history. This “player passport” can be a mobile dataset that moves with the athlete through the years and through their journey from school teams to academies to college and beyond.
No one knows this better than David Muir, Head of Coaching at Crystal Palace FC Academy. Supplying the English Premier League club with its next generation of players requires identifying talent as well as managing their physical and mental development over the years. To get actionable knowledge from this massive load of data, he relies on Metrifit’s player monitoring system.
“Performance Management Tools and Player Performance Clocks are a mandatory requirement of the EPPP (Elite Player Performance Plan) for all Academies,” said Muir. “Metrifit has provided a bespoke product for us that matches the specific needs and requirements of all CPFC players, staff and parents. It fulfils all the requirements of the EPPP while allowing us to drive through the CPFC vision and philosophy of developing young players at our Academy. The player centred holistic approach across departments as well as the player /parent/coach interaction available instantly has had a major positive impact on the communication at the club.”
Even beyond a single club, building a deep talent pool for a national team takes even more organization of player data. Since she took over the Scotland national women’s soccer program in 2005, Head Coach Anna Signeul knew her rebuilding project had to start at the youth level.
“On day one, I wanted to change the whole women’s game here in Scotland,” Signeul told FIFA.com. “My goal was to develop something sustainable. You can go in as national coach and just focus on short-term success with the A squad, but what we’ve done has been to invest in the future for women’s football in this country.
“That’s why I’m so pleased at the moment because not only have we improved, but I’m sure we’re going to keep on improving. We have such talented players at every age level and, crucially, there’s a new awareness in these players coming through of what is required to be an elite athlete. For me, that’s the biggest and most important difference from when I first took the job, and I think the mindset has changed across Scotland.
One of the key decisions she made was to invest in a player monitoring system to capture technical, tactical, physical and health information on all players in the program.
“We have been using Metrifit since 2011 and it has been hugely beneficial in supporting our staff to track and monitor the players training, performance and wellbeing,” she said. “Metrifit has given both players and staff the opportunity to track the players training and competition programmes, targets set by players, injury, health, goal setting, nutrition and all the other key elements essential to support the delivery of our high level performance programmes.”
These coaches understand the importance and necessity that daily data capture and predictive analysis provides as a dashboard of player performance. Without it, they would be driving down a dark road with no headlights.
About Metrifit
Metrifit is an athlete monitoring system that gathers subjective and objective information from both coaches and athletes in a simple but effective manner with intelligent visualization helping coaches and athletes to act on that data. Why not have a look at our Ready to Perform product and gain insight on the physical and mental state of your athletes through our daily wellbeing questionnaire? To find out more visit our Metrifit Product Overview page or get in touch for a free demo.
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Kevin Schultz
Associate Director of Strength & Conditioning
Director of Olympic Strength & Conditioning
University of Wisconsin
Kevin Schultz
Associate Director of Strength & Conditioning
Director of Olympic Strength & Conditioning
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Lee Stutely
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Lee Stutely
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Paul Cremin
Head Physiotherapist, Cornish Pirates Rugby Club
Paul Cremin
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Edgar K. Tham
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Edgar K. Tham
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Yvonne Treacy
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Yvonne Treacy
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Jason McGahan
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Michael Torres
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Michael Torres
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Niall O’Driscoll
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Head Volley Ball Coach, Southern Illinois University
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Joe O’Connor
NISUS Fitness, S&C Coach Clare Senior Hurling, Horse Sport Ireland and Limerick Senior Hurling
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Tino Fusco, B.Sc. ChPC
Head Coach, Women's Soccer, Mount Royal University (Canada)
Tino Fusco, B.Sc. ChPC
Head Coach, Women's Soccer, Mount Royal University (Canada)
Brian Clarke
Head Strength and Conditioning Co-ordinator,Noblesville High School
Brian Clarke
Head Strength and Conditioning Co-ordinator,Noblesville High School
Graham Williams
Athletic Development Coach, MSc ASCC
Millfield School, UK
Graham Williams
Athletic Development Coach, MSc ASCC
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Cian O’Neill
Kildare Senior Football Manager
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Kildare Senior Football Manager
Tommy Mooney
Strength and Conditioning Coach at DCU Sport and with Dublin Minor GAA
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Ryan Osborn
Head Basketball Coach, Carmel High School
Ryan Osborn
Head Basketball Coach, Carmel High School
Emma Hawke, PhD Exercise Physiology
Coach - Sweden Climbing, Olympic Offensive - Female Coach Swedish Olympic Committee, Senior Lecturer - Coach education programme (Sweden)
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Coach - Sweden Climbing, Olympic Offensive - Female Coach Swedish Olympic Committee, Senior Lecturer - Coach education programme (Sweden)
Dave Passmore
Head Coach, Irish Hockey
Dave Passmore
Head Coach, Irish Hockey
Brijesh Patel
Quinnipiac University, Head Strength and Conditioning Coach
Brijesh Patel
Quinnipiac University, Head Strength and Conditioning Coach
Dan Horan
Head of Fitness for International Football/Fitness Coach Men's Senior Team
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Dan Horan
Head of Fitness for International Football/Fitness Coach Men's Senior Team
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"When COVID altered college athletics as we knew it, Metrifit came to the rescue. This intuitive athlete monitoring, health and well-being system provides the athlete, coach, and sports medicine staff a way to monitor and balance the physical, emotional, health and well-being of our athlete’s. Metrifit provided that calm in the middle of the perfect storm for our entire athletic department for the future. Thank you to the entire Metrifit family for assisting our department with a seamless process."
Jennifer McIntosh
Head Athletic Trainer, Colorado School of Mines
Jennifer McIntosh
Head Athletic Trainer, Colorado School of Mines
J.B. Belzer
Head Coach, Women's Soccer at Regis University
J.B. Belzer
Head Coach, Women's Soccer at Regis University
Erik Helland
Director of Strength & Conditioning and Head Strength Coach Men’s basketball, University of Wisconsin
Erik Helland
Director of Strength & Conditioning and Head Strength Coach Men’s basketball, University of Wisconsin
Robert Karlsson, Professional Golfer
Robert Karlsson, Professional Golfer
Dr. Dale Richardson
CEO Achieve Total Performance Pty Ltd
Dr. Dale Richardson
CEO Achieve Total Performance Pty Ltd
Aaron Mansfield
Head Coach, LMU Lions, Loyola Marymount University
Aaron Mansfield
Head Coach, LMU Lions, Loyola Marymount University
Dan Rickaby
Assistant S&C Coach, Tulane University
Dan Rickaby
Assistant S&C Coach, Tulane University
Richard Deuchrass
Lincoln University Athletic Performance Manager
Richard Deuchrass
Lincoln University Athletic Performance Manager