Immediate Impact: Ontario Volleyball Club Sees Success with Hudl's Video and Data Tools

David Reed doesn’t want you to know he loves Hudl.

The Storm Volleyball Club 16U Girls’ Tornado coach says Hudl is his secret weapon. He watches film, studies the stats, and provides feedback to his team on a single platform. Having Hudl this year helped him gameplan and develop players to be their best.

“I absolutely loved using a Hudl this year,” Reed said. “I know that not as many [Canadian] teams use it. So I have this love for Hudl, but I also have an awesome little secret.”

Reed has a head start, but other clubs and coaches in the area are taking note: Hudl is a game-changer.

Unexpected Value in Just One Year

This was the club’s first year using Hudl. But Reed was an early adopter and admitted Hudl pushed him to evolve his coaching.

“Within one season, Hudl was the foundation of becoming a better coach,” he said. “I started off by looking at the simple things on Hudl. But now I’ve gotten more in-depth with how data can help the team. I’ve been sucked into a whole new world of coaching that I enjoy. I didn’t expect it to alter so many things I have done.”

That says a lot coming from a man with over two decades of coaching experience.

But, Reed is now a Hudl enthusiast. He spends his free time—including his lunch hour—watching film and preparing.

“Coworkers will ask me to go to lunch and I say no because I want to watch Hudl,” he said with a laugh.

However, he’ll be the first to tell you that the impact of video and data may start slow, but it builds quickly. Reed says the larger your collection of video and data, the more you can learn.

“You start with the base of, ‘This is what my team looked like after the first tournament.’ Then you compare that to your second tournament, you start to notice differences. Then you get to 15 or 20 games, you’re four tournaments into the season, and all of a sudden you’re seeing drastic changes.”

In particular, he says data is a key driver in developing his team.

Stats to See the Game Differently

Having video to rewatch games and share insights gives Storm Volleyball Club a leg up over their opponents. But Reed says that having stats linked to video is unlike anything he’s ever used before.

He summed up the simplicity of stats on Hudl: “Numbers are highlighted blue, I click it and the clips come right up.”

Hudl Assist provides full team and player stats for every game for your film, including fundamental things like kills, digs, blocks, etc. Assist also unlocks advanced data like Passer Rating or the Attack Tendencies report to see every kill, trajectory and outcome in an easy-to-understand chart.

As Coach Reed noted, every stat is linked to video. If your outside hitter had five kills last game, clicking the 5 automatically creates a playlist with clips of each kill.

Data tells you what happened. Video shows you why it happened. Going from the “what” to “why” in an instant means Reed unlocks insights faster than ever before.

Now, Reed uses stats to track progress and drive performance in a way he couldn’t before.

“Tracking each player and what they were doing gave me an idea to come up with individual and team goals,” Reed said. “The biggest thing as a coach is having a defined measurable goal for a team.”

With goals set in Hudl, everyone can see their performance against team and individual goals. That level of accountability is crucial for players while also creating transparency with parents.

A Platform that Parents Support

Going to an athlete’s family and telling them their dues need to include Hudl may intimidate some clubs. Reed says it’s a no-brainer.

“Kids’ sports are becoming a large investment for families and parents,” he said. “Hudl gives clubs support for athletes and parents.”

By support, he means secure personal login credentials and tools to watch and review video anywhere. Athletes and their families use their accounts and the stats page to find and create clips in a single click to create highlight reels.

And highlights are a big deal. Creating them on Hudl is quick and easy. Click your stats, watch your clips, add them to your highlights—and voilà!

“Parents want to show off their kids, but they are also promoting themselves to colleges and coaches,” said Reed. “With Hudl, they aren’t spending hours every night watching video to make highlights. Hudl does that for them.”

They can even livestream games through the Hudl app on an iPhone or iPad so families and fans can tune in to support players from anywhere.

And for the unavoidable “playing time” conversation, Reed says Hudl is a portal into performance providing credibility to his coaching.

“I can take what I have on Hudl and say, ‘This is how your kid is doing.’ Depending on the analytics we’re seeing and what’s on film, that helps determine how and when players play,” he said. “Then as coaches, we can go to parents and say ‘When we see her performance improve, her playing time will increase.’”

Video and data establish transparency. They eliminate personal bias. Evidence of performance creates trust.

These tools support athletes’ development by pinpointing areas for growth and tracking their growth from game to game, between tournaments, or throughout a season.

“Kids may not see themselves getting better, but when you show it to them with video they see success there,” he said. “It’s not about the score, it’s about their individual development. And Hudl has the numbers that tell you that. The things they’re practicing, the things I’m asking them to do, it’s working.”

The Worst Kept Secret

If Hudl is his “secret weapon,” then David Reed isn’t doing himself any favors. He’s telling anyone and everyone about his experience.

Reed is quick to bring up his insights from Hudl when talking with other coaches at the club or during tournaments. David’s also using Hudl when he coaches with the Team Ontario teams organized through the Ontario Volleyball Association (OVA). OVA is a Hudl partner, allowing teams to leverage Hudl and Hudl Assist.

Reed even encouraged his son’s soccer coach to get Hudl for their team. Some secret, huh?

“I just didn’t expect it to alter so many of the things I have done,” he said.

Despite nearly 25 years of coaching, David Reed is growing and evolving to be his best, but he’s only getting started:

“It’s fun to use. It’s fun to explore. I'm looking forward to next season and I feel like I have a head start. I feel like I'm already ahead of the game because I just got better as the season went on.”