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AFM Magazine


Achieving Maximum Benefit from Your Use of Technology in Game Planning

by: Samuel G. Covault, Ph.D
Athle-Tech Computer Systems
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ALL STAFFS INVEST A TREMENDOUS AMOUNT OF time and effort in game planning. Strategic preparation for an opponent is a big part of what we do as coaches. It's a major element of the intellectual challenge of coaching which attracts us to the profession, and it forms the basis for the way in which we as coaches compete on game day.

Play calling success is dependent upon a knowledge of the strengths, weaknesses and tendencies of both your own team and of your opponent. We all know that other factors such as player talent, emotion, and in some cases a little luck, can affect the outcome of a game, but once a season starts, the variable most in your control is planning and strategy.

Knowing your opponent and your own team, in a strategic sense, begins with the study of game tape. There is no getting around the fact that there will always be a lot of work involved in the process of breaking down games, but it always has been and always will be the most fertile ground for attaining an advantage over an opponent of equal or superior physical talent.

The staff at AFM has asked me to reflect upon a few truths and ideas which I've seen work particularly well in helping staffs enhance their game planning productivity. Hopefully, you may find that one or more of them can help your program as well. First, I'll present a few key ideas, then layout one possible way of integrating them into your planning with a chart which illustrates an organization of game planning staff and resources.

Accuracy

An often repeated truism in information technology is "garbage in . . . garbage out." This seemingly obvious statement of fact is overlooked or ignored more often than most staffs care to admit. Embracing its message, as a critical element in applying technology, is one of the best game planning decisions your staff can make. Ensuring the absolute accuracy of the information upon which you make decisions is key to maximizing the advantages which technology can provide. The best way to ensure your entire staff's confidence in the data upon which planning is based is the certification of its accuracy, by senior members of the staff, BEFORE reporting is created.

Training

On most staffs today, the "grunt work" of play-by-play game breakdown is delegated to graduate assistant coaches, quality control coaches, and occasionally in programs where they have some coaching background, video coordinators. Most of us spent time early in our careers in the same indentured servitude imposed upon these young coaches. Its the training ground through which we all have passed. Most often, these are bright, hardworking young professionals, dedicated to the game. The fact that they assume the lion's share of the responsibility for film breakdown frees up a tremendous amount of time for more senior coaches to concentrate in other areas. But remember, game breakdown skill is an art, one mastered over many years. Most young coaches will make plenty of mistakes as they attempt to describe what they see on video. If we, as more experienced coaches, are going to prepare our teams and make game day decisions based upon reporting, both statistical and video, then it's to our benefit to train, and provide with clear rules and terminology, everyone on our staff who has input into analyzing our opponents.

As with many elements of your program, the best time to evaluate and enhance the ability of your staff to produce accurate information is not during the competitive heat of battle, but in the off-season. Several staffs with whom I've worked have seen great improvements in the quality of the information they produce after instituting regular training sessions for young coaches and support personnel. Conducted by the more senior members of the staff, these sessions teach the skills of recognizing offensive and defensive concepts as they relate to the art of breaking down game footage.

Once you've trained your young coaches in how to breakdown game footage using a clearly defined and well conceived system of terminology, take the time to test and reinforce their skills BEFORE the season starts. The summer scouting and preparation for next season's opponents, that most staffs conduct, is a perfect opportunity to test their expertise.

Terminology

A clearly defined system of terminology is critical. When working with a staff, we often begin with the concept of "working backwards" into a system of terminology by beginning with the question: "What final output best helps you to make decisions or teach concepts to your players?" Using such an approach, we often find that staffs develop a film breakdown terminology which is cleaner and simpler to use than the terminology they use in play calling. Another benefit to this approach is the drawing together of related concepts. This results in more meaningful tendency statistics (i.e. fewer and larger percentages) and widely applied concepts which players can use to react more quickly and correctly.

Once established, have each coordinator and the head coach review and sign-off on a printed list of terminology to be used in all analysis, both self-scout and opponent. As periodic adjustments to this terminology are made, approve them in the same manner.

During the season, before creating final reports (statistical or video) require an accuracy check of the data by designated senior coaches, usually the coordinators.

Information Gathering

The off-season is also a good time to re-evaluate your current approach to information gathering and the reporting which results. Here are a few twists to the information gathering techniques that most programs currently employ.

Sideline Play x Play

Most staffs keep a sideline play-by-play during the game. Acknowledging it as an important tool can provide you with self-scouting information which is relatively easy to gather and use. Self-scouting is an under-exploited area on many staffs. We're all creatures of habit, particularly with regard to things that have been successful for us in the past. Your opponents are working hard to discover tendencies in your play calling in all phases of the game. Recognizing your own tendencies, and employing that knowledge in your own play calling, particularly later in the season when they have been clearly established, can be a valuable advantage. Here's an easy four step plan for using the sideline play by play as the basis for your self-scouting information.

1. Your third team quarterback and linebacker record offensive, defensive and special teams calls as they are sent into the game.

2. Directly after the game, graduate assistant/quality control coaches enter calls, along with down, distance, field position and gain/loss information from the press box play-by-play, into the game analysis data base.

3. The next day, during grading, check the data for accuracy, adjustments, audibles, etc. and have each coordinator sign-off on the accuracy of the final data.

4. After collecting the changes noted during grading, graduate assistant/quality control coaches enter final corrections into the game analysis data base.

Grade Sheets with "Key Play" Field

Most staffs conduct their closest scrutiny of their own game footage when grading their team's performance the day after the game. This is the perfect opportunity, with very little additional effort, to tag "key plays" for later use. By including a "key play" column on their grade sheet, each coach can note those plays which are particularly good illustrations of a concept. Using these notations, graduate assistants/quality control coaches and the video coordinator can tag "key play" designations to individual plays and corresponding video in the self-scout data base. This provides an additional "filter" that can save you many hours in the future when your searching for that special play to include in training cut-ups, clinic presentation tapes, etc.

Entering Game Breakdown Data into the Data Base

While many coaches don't have great typing skills, entering game data directly into a computer (by typing, touch pad or voice) can save a great deal of time. After years of experimenting with all these input devices, the keyboard is still the most reliable, versatile and easiest to use. A well laid out data entry screen allows even the typing-challenged to become pretty effective after a little experience. If you decide to use take-off sheets to record game breakdown information, take the time to lay them out so that they flow in the same manner as your computer data entry screen.

Organization

Technologies used by staffs today range across a wide spectrum, from "tapeless", non-linear (digital) client-server networks, which provide on-demand video reporting on any combination of variables, all the way to pencil, paper and a hand calculator. Regardless of the tools at your disposal, efficient organization is a key element in providing you with accurate, insightful information upon which to make decisions.

The following organizational chart illustrates how a schedule, begun 12 days before game day and maintained throughout the season, can allow your staff to develop superior opponent AND self-scouting information. This organizational schedule has been used successfully in programs with widely varying resources. As you review this plan, keep in mind that while the amount of preparation time available to each staff is the same, the technology and manpower at your disposal will have an impact on the time required to perform specific tasks. Footnotes following the chart provide suggestions on how the schedule is affect by different resources.






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