The offseason is the perfect time for coaches to consider their processes and aim to improve. Video and stats can help with that.
The school year may be ending, but driven coaches won’t give themselves much R&R. It’s critical to start evaluating their processes and plan how they’ll improve team performance next year.
Video and stats can help accomplish that goal. Video is the all-encompassing tool that allows coaches to review performance in an unbiased manner, effectively scout opponents, and better develop and prepare athletes for the next level. Adding stats to the equation uncovers even more insights and adds depth to the video.
“It’s completely changed the way we do things on a weekly basis, just because we can now go back and fix the mistakes that we might have forgot about after a win or a loss, because we have the video."
Michael Strange, former women's high school soccer coach
More and more coaches all across the country are experiencing the benefits of video. Here are some of the top reasons they’re thriving.
Video Accelerates Player Development
Today’s generation of athletes are visual learners. They receive information best through visual stimuli, and video is the ultimate way to help them understand what they do well and where they need to improve. By actually showing them areas to work on, coaches can help players grasp concepts or techniques far more quickly.
Video allows coaches to teach athletes without their physical presence. By sharing clips—complemented by personalized drawings and comments—to players, coaches can show positive plays to boost confidence while pointing out areas that need some work.
"Video analysis is absolutely critical in player development,” Rick Tune, the boys volleyball coach at Punahou High School (Hawaii), said. “You cannot maximize your full potential without video helping you understand the game. I think for any player who wants to maximize their potential, they have to be disciplined enough to look and read and evaluate."
Video Adds Objectivity
The misinformation effect can dramatically alter how humans remember an event—coaches are no exception. Seemingly minor stimuli and information can color recollection.
“It shows my stubbornness, too. It makes me look in the mirror.”
Marshall Cho, boys basketball coach at Lake Oswego High School (Ore.)
Video helps put things in perspective. It allows coaches and athletes to see what really happened, not what they remember. It enhances reality and removes any subjective opinions created during games.
“Before Hudl, it was kind of crude. We’re drawing out things and you have to go off memory and stick pictures that you’re drawing,” Adam Tuttle, an assistant boys basketball coach at Angola High School (Ind.), said. “That’s all you have to go off of and you can’t just pull out your laptop and know exactly where a play is. You just kind of go off what another coach says and you just believe them.
“It’s huge, to be able to show these players Assist before the game to push a message toward your kids, or to message a kid Thursday and say, ‘Hey, I clipped these out and if you still don’t understand what they’re running, watch these clips.’ For the visual learners, this is it. You help all types of learning.”
Video Provides New Insights
Video provides coaches with a second set of eyes to reveal things they may have missed live. It presents a different view than the coaches’ sideline angle and allows them to view what transpired without the stress of the outcome being undecided.
The process is streamlined even further when video is tied to statistics. The numbers can work with the video to tell the story of a game or season. A single click on a statistic creates a playlist of all clips associated with that number, allowing coaches to quickly filter and find the moments they need to see.
“The stats helped us shape what we wanted to practice and work on going into the next game,” Tray Meeks, the boys basketball coach at Alemany High School (Calif.), said. “We really used the run graphs to find out what quarters were our best and in what quarters we really needed to push them more. Last year we didn’t start games well, so we really emphasized that. We started in practice—start practice well. It really gave us an advantage mentally.
“Without those run graphs, we really wouldn’t have had that information.”
All coaches can benefit from adding video and reports to their daily workflow. Talk to other coaches at your school about how they use Hudl for inspiration. To get more ideas on how to maximize video’s advantages, check out our coaching resources.
