The Atlanta Silverbacks of the North American soccer League, NASL, introduce the role of the
"Video Coach"
http://www.atlantasilverbacksfc.com/team/coachingstaff
The Professional soccer team based in Atlanta, Georgia, The Atlanta Silverbacks, have taken a huge step in video technology by introducing a "video coach" to the full time coaching staff. Technical director, Eric Wynalda has quickly discovered that a video coach is an essential role for any professional team.
Bert Leonard is no stranger to video analysis technology and some say he has been a pioneer for practical use of video technology for soccer in the USA at all levels and has also put his stamp on Mexico and Costa Rica.
For the Atlanta Silverbacks, Bert, not only films training sessions, but he also imports and analyzes/codes all components of the training sessions live such that immediately following a training session, assistant coach Ricardo Montoya, can go into the office and say, "show me the 3rd progression of the match related part when the attacking team was was numbers up ." Bert clicks Match related, progression 3 in the Interplay-sports software and there it is. Also, "show me the goals we scored today in all phases of training." Bert presses goals and there they are as well as the position of where the shot occurred on the field.
But is this information practical and useful? Bert says, "Absolutely. It is all in how video is transferred from the coaching staff to the players. What player would not want education on correct attacking and defensive team shape. Also, my latest project is goals scored in training. This is the ultimate goal in the match, but we do look at how we score goals in training and compare those to the matches. What was the shot position of the goal on the field and from where are we generally scoring goals in training and are the forwards actually the ones scoring them in training? It is one of those out of of the box things that needs attention. The comparative of goals scored in training in all phases and the actual matches will give a lot of information about the demand and effectiveness of the training sessions.
So talk to me about Live analysis and why?
That's an easy one. Why not? The interplay-sports software I use is made for live analysis. Why do the analysis after the game when I can have it right away for the coaching staff and players. I often show Eric Wynalda and the coaching staff key clips at halftime of matches. It could be that showing the build of a great chance or goal could lead to an important tactical change or reveal a tendency from the opponent. Also, it is fun to read the game and tag video live. It challenges me to find key sequences and even grade individual players when they did well or grade them on plays that need improvement.
Need we say more!!!
Check out Bert's next blog and hear quotes form the coaching staff of the Atlanta Silverbacks on
Bert's role as "Video Coach" .....
In order to get footage form the net that can NOT be imported for various reasons, you need to be a bit creative. While seemingly old fashion, filming a TV screen and importing the footage into the Interplay analysis computer can be a good solution. Here I have 2 laptops, one to view the the footage of Real Salt Lake vs. Portland and the other laptop I use for the analysis. I set up a camera with tripod at an angle such that the image is cropped into the viewfinder screen of the camera and is level. I then film the footage of the game projected to the TV and take the stream out via the A/V port of the camera. I then use a Canopus Media Converter to connect the camera into the media converter via composite cables or the yellow, red, and white cables; yellow carries the video signal. The next step is to use a fire wire cable connected from the converter box and into my Interplay analysis laptop with a a built in fire wire port. I see the game in both laptops and now I am ready to tag the game and do my scouting. The video quality is actually good enough for the player's to see key situations.
