A LaLigain partnership with Microsoftas part of the advanced statistics project Beyond Stats, has launched an initiative that highlights how tournament teams use performance metrics from video motion analysis tool Mediacoach to prepare their players on a daily basis.
The project, which will be divided into seven episodes, will highlight health, The Palms, Mallorca, Alavés, Villarreal e Girona. Each club’s technical team will attempt to answer some questions related to the use of performance metrics, aiming to explore the importance of technology for preparation on and off the field.
Girona, the first club to gain prominence, for example, commented on the role of data in maximizing athletes’ physical performance throughout the season.
The Beyond Stats project, driven by Microsoft and LaLiga, has two main components: fan engagement and performance improvement for clubs.
To assist with engagement, the project includes on-screen graphics during broadcasts, content on social media and even a statistics portal, so that fans can have a deeper view of the game.
As part of improving performance, there is integration with the Microsoft Surface Pro tablet, which is supplied to all 42 clubs in the first two Spanish divisions. The tool allows real-time access to Mediacoach data to help with decision-making, thus improving the competitiveness of the team and the league.
More than a thousand users, ranging from coaches and competition analysts to commentators and reporters, are using the information and insights that the project offers. During each season, 112,000 reports and more than 1 billion data points are generated.
The first episode of the case study highlights David Porcel, Girona’s fitness coach. In his participation, he spoke about the importance of the metrics offered by Mediacoach, the evolution of technology in the world of football and how he uses all the advanced data provided by Beyond Stats to get the most out of his team.
“We are in a situation that no one expected, but we are ambitious and we want to continue winning every Sunday,” he said.
“The team is performing well and it is a pleasure to see them arriving, as they are flying. We are among the top three or four teams in terms of high intensity. Physically, we have evolved a lot throughout the season,” he added.
David Porcel also highlighted some of the data that he considers most relevant among the Beyond Stats metrics, such as “high intensity, number of sprints and maximum speed”.
“On Microsoft’s Surface Pro with Mediacoach Vision, I like to look at sprints, or when a player hits a top speed, to see how that sprint went. Furthermore, you can easily select the player, filter by speed and it gives you the sprints that that player did in that game”, he stated.
“When I started in professional football, I didn’t even have a GPS for each player. If you think about how it was then and how it is now, and how everything continues to be updated, things are always getting easier,” he concluded.