Just as digital transformation has made its way into the fields of health, business, and other sectors, it has found its place in sports, leading to the rise of the digital athlete. By collecting data on athletes and analyzing it in an effective way, athletes and teams can gain a competitive edge on the court, the field, or the track. “Competitive advantage won’t necessarily be won by those who can collect the most data, but rather it will go to those who can make the most sense of the data and act on it in real time,” says Mark Lehew, vice president for SAP’s sports and entertainment industry business unit.
Using digitization in sports to create digital athletes offers significant benefits to your team. How can the creation of a digital athlete translate into improved athletics and team processes?
Using data to your advantage
In the competitive arena, you have to do everything ethically and legally possible to get your competitive edge. When you use it the right way, technology gives you a new way to maximize potential.
Digitization provides you with athlete insight and gives you the ability to act faster and work smarter with the information you have. A technology platform can bring together separate information about an athlete from different parts of team operations, making it more accessible. This gives you a “bigger picture” view of that athlete.
With all the data combined, you’ll be able to easily find the answers to your questions and act on the information. Digitization instantly uses the data that’s collected so you have real-time results instead of waiting for the collection, organization, and analytics of the data. This could translate into a coach using team data during the game to influence results. With a platform that does the work for you, people who are less technologically savvy can find and use the information without an expert.
Your team will have the ability to work smarter compared to how things were done in the past. You can simplify current practices and make the most out of the information you have.
Turn data into results
You might be wondering how your athletes or team could gain real results from data. The digital athlete can affect many parts of your team operations. You will have the ability to scout better by using in-depth information you collect about athletes around the world. Once you have chosen your athletes, technology enables you to help improve their performance. You can customize training with information on each athlete’s strengths and weaknesses. Also, personal data will allow you to better manage and motivate each athlete.
According to Coy Wire for CNN, technology allows teams to track an athlete’s movements during practice and games. It also offers the ability to study past plays to predict future ones, among other benefits.
Information collected by a platform gives coaches and managers more to work with during training sessions and even during competitions. For example, a camera on an equestrian’s helmet or on a tennis court sends data to a processor that translates it into useful information for coaches and managers to use during and after the competition. You can formulate better strategies, backed by solid data.
Coaches often focus too much time on managing information, watching video, and creating strategies. Coaches then don’t have enough time to spend with players, and players are also putting too much time into watching videos instead of practicing. Some teams consider increasing their coaching staff to handle the duties. But digitization can solve the problem by providing the information you need without going through the videos and data yourself.
Virtual reality and gamification technologies give you an idea of how plays and strategies will work before they’re carried out in a game. Collected data allows the team to cut down on injuries by predicting and finding ways to prevent them or only using athletes when they can make the biggest impact in the game.
With the right platform, you can tap into information from a variety of sources, combining medical data, salary and contract data, scouting information and videos, training videos, game data, and other sources to benefit all parts of your team operations.
Not only can technology improve your athletes and team processes, but it can also create better fan engagement with connected stadiums, all the data they want, better coverage of games, improved quality and regulations, and enhanced safety, explains Clearinghouse for Sport.
Technology lets you turn team and athlete data into information that is useful, improves athletic performance, and betters team operations. Are you looking for innovative ways to bring your athletes ahead in soccer, basketball, football, golf, tennis, sailing, or any other team or individual sports?