Discovering Top Young Prospects with Hudl Physical Data

Scouting Young Stars with Physical Data

Given that scouting and recruitment trends are shifting towards a focus on younger players, the importance of having access to and leveraging physical data when trying to identify the next young star cannot be underestimated.

With Hudl Physical Data, clubs can now pinpoint promising young talent in other teams' setups who possess the physical attributes that align with their own first team's style of play and have the ability to fit into their game model. 

Whether recruiting up-and-coming prospects who are immediately ready for senior football or integrating them into the existing academy set-up, clubs can ensure seamless player integration through robust physical performance insights.

Accelerations and Decelerations

Given that max speed alone can only tell you so much within the context of the game, understanding players acceleration and deceleration capabilities can provide extra insight on a potential target. 

For example, a striker might face a low block with limited space to run into, so a quick burst over a short distance is as valuable as their top running speed. Or a winger’s ability to explosively change direction could open up pockets of space to run into or deliver a cross.

Accelerations and decelerations are also important in pressing and crucial transitional moments, such as counter attacks or recovery runs. Furthermore, players who can efficiently change direction with good turning mechanics are less likely to put themselves into compromised body positions, reducing the chance of muscle strains and other injuries. 

Hudl Physical Data provides statistics on the number of medium and high accelerations and decelerations. A medium acceleration is measured from 1.5 m/s to 3 m/s, while a high is those actions 3 m/s and above. For decelerations, medium is measured between -1.5 m/s to -3 m/s and high from -3 m/s.

As accelerations and decelerations are closely related, analysts will sometimes group them together to get an idea of the total mechanical load of a player. Here we look at the U23 players from this season’s Serie A to see who performs well in these metrics.

What stands out from the high acceleration and deceleration chart is the number of wide players, both wingers and full backs. What’s more, seven of the players with highest acceleration counts, also chart in the top ten for decelerations, highlighting again the correlation between the two.

Looking at the medium accelerations and decelerations, we see a lot more central midfielders, given that these types of actions are usually more related to ‘endurance’ type positions. 

These players cover a lot of ground, but not always at full capacity, having to shift left to right around the field while conserving energy at the same time, in order to always be available to receive a pass or apply pressure on an opponent.

This information is valuable as it can provide a benchmark for the club when looking for potential targets who fit their hard-running game model, while also providing recruiters with important physical information when scouting the hotbed of young talent that is the Belgian Pro League.  

We also see 17-year-old starlet Konstantinos Karetsas stand out. As well as his fantastic dribbling, passing and vision, Karetsas’ ability to cover plenty of ground marks him out as a special talent, both physically and technically. 

High Speed Running, Sprinting, and High Intensity

More distance isn't always better, however. Sometimes high distance and top speed numbers can mask positional deficiencies, with players having to make more recovery runs – or, for teams who boss possession, players might not be chasing the ball so much and posting lower numbers.

Instead, it’s often more about efficiency and effective running, and key moments of games are often underpinned by high-intensity actions. That’s why metrics such as High Speed Running (HSR), Sprinting, and High Intensity (HI) Distance offer additional value about how that distance is being covered and how often they make those runs, providing extra context when it comes to making key strategic recruitment decisions.

High Speed Running is calculated when a player is travelling between 20-25 km/h, while Sprinting is characterised by anything above 25 km/h. Hudl’s Physical Data pack provides both the average metres covered at that speed per 90 and the count or number of times per 90.

Typically, dynamic players like box-to-box midfielders and lateral players who work hard in attack and defence are the position profiles that tend to have higher HSR and sprinting numbers. They are the type of players capable of line-breaking runs behind opponents and tracking back during transition.

Looking at HSR among U23 players in this year’s MLS, we can see that players like Orlando City’s Jeorgio Kocevski, New York Red Bulls’ Serge Ngoma, and Minnesota United’s Moses Nyeman rank among the highest for both HSR distance and counts, fitting in with the profile of hard working midfielders and wide players. 

In comparison, we see LA Galaxy’s Carlos Garcés at the other end of the spectrum. This is understandable given that he is a centre back and plays for a side that typically bosses possession (54.9%, third highest during MLS regular season), meaning that he shouldn’t need to regularly cover as much ground at high speed. 

Comparing sprint distance against total distance can provide insights into a potential target player’s characteristics. If sprint distance is high but total is low, that suggests they are an explosive athlete rather than an endurance athlete, who may conserve their energy for the high-intensity match-defining moments.

Looking at the graph above, it shows us that a player like New York City’s Algerian forward Mounsef Bakrar is one of those explosive athletes, with a very high sprint count and a slightly below average distance, while Patrick Yazbek is more of a high performing endurance athlete who can cover a lot of ground but not at a sprinting pace.

Meanwhile, the cluster of players in the bottom left of both graphs are represented entirely by goalkeepers, who are not expected to cover as much ground. Interestingly, Chicago Fire’s Chris Brady does stand out from the goalkeepers, typically covering more distance and making more high speed runs than his counterparts.  

Context is King

As we’ve shown, when using data to improve decision making around recruitment, it is important to not just look at specific physical metrics in isolation but combined together for a more accurate picture of a potential target’s physical profile.

A quick and effective way to get this full context is through Data as a Service dashboards. Not only does this Physical Performance Index give you a range of physical metrics but also allows you to compare them in relation to other players.

Returning to the example of Nico Paz, we can see the Argentinian has high numbers for High Intensity, Sprinting, High Speed Running and Total Distance, to go along with his aforementioned accelerations and decelerations. This puts him above the majority of his peers and leads to a high Physical Index Score.

These graphs and dashboards can be customized to focus on a specific league, position, even time period within matches to provide the full context for recruiters when it comes to aligning potential players with their team’s game model.

Below we see another example of a Data as a Service dashboard, integrating physical metrics with performance data, to provide a holistic view of player performance. 

Focused on U23 forwards from Sweden, Norway and Denmark, we see that Noah Shamoun appears in the top right quadrant due to his impressive attacking and defensive qualities. With both performance and physical data, benchmarked against similar players, we can get a snapshot of him as a player and how he compares to other targets. 

Having impressed at Kalmar FF under Henrik Rydström, it’s no surprise that he came to the attention of Danish side Randers, due to this blend of offensive output and high-performing physical qualities.