Welcome to my first blog post. I decided to start this blog to get some ideas and concepts I've been working on out in to the world, get some feedback, engage in some discussions, and hopefully spark some new ideas. This blog will cover many topics related to data science and how it can apply to performance and coaching. I will present and discuss much of the data that I have collected over the years, but more importantly will discuss its implications to improving performance. I will make available all data sets I will discuss, and any analysis programs that I have written. I write programs in Python for those of you who want to follow along. I hope that some of these concepts, ideas, and models can be of use to any one looking to start making data driven decisions.
Before I dive in to the data (all I really care about!), I'll tell you a bit about my own experience. For the past 5 years I've been an assistant track coach at Dalhousie University working with the sprinters, and during the past 6 years, I've worked as a performance analyst and biomechanist at the Canadian Sport Centre Atlantic. In 2012 I was a part of the mission staff for the London Paralympic Games with Team Canada, and in 2016 I was team staff with Canoe/Kayak Canada for the Olympic games in Rio.
My job requires me to gather, store, sort, scrape, filter, wrangle, analyze, and present all sorts of performance metrics in an effort to improve performance. When it comes to data analysis I've seen the good, the bad and the ugly.
I'd like to kick things off by exploring what coaching might look like in the future, and specifically how this relates to data science.
Don't fear the machines
We live in a very interesting time with respect to how technology is being integrated in to our lives. Machines are starting to become more intelligent (if you can even call it that), and more and more of our tedious tasks are being replaced by algorithms. There is a growing fear that advances in A.I. will not only take over all of human productive employment but also the world! Although this topic has gained a lot of attention lately I haven't heard mention of how A.I. may be applied to coaching. I can hear you now, "A computer could never replace me!". Well don't you worry, I'm here to tell you that the future of coaching is not only safe,it is so much more awesome than you think.
To understand how this utopian future could look, I'd like to use an example from the first sport to be dominated by machines. Chess.
In May of 1997 Deep Blue became the first computer system to defeat a world champion, an amazing accomplishment by the team at IBM and the supercomputer.
The power of Deep Blue came from its ability to analyze every possible outcome from any move being played, similar to what a chess master would do but much better. Deep Blue was also programmed with the insights of many previous chess masters, in a way contained the knowledge of many champions. So now that computers reign supreme, how has the game of chess changed? Heres the amazing thing, the best chess players are not computers. The best chess players are humans using computers (called advanced chess). The ability to choose the outcome based on heightened feedback really resonates with me. I believe this outcome gives us insight in to the future of coaching.
What does the coach of the future look like?
I'd like to propose to you a vision of what a coach looks like in the future.
The coach of the future will.....
Choose the algorithm that suits his personal style and experience
The development of really robust algorithms will require some amazing data sets. These data sets do not exist today. At best, each coach, club, or organization collects a mish mash of data, whether is performance data, sleep, stresss, nutrition, heart rates, game statistics. Although the quality of the data is quite high in some instances, the data is not collected with the purpose of creating robust models. Companies will specialize in the development of performance models as a service. No model will be 100% accurate, and different models will offer different advantages based on the biases the data sets yield. A coach will become an expert in choosing a model that fits with his personal philosophies and that the user experience fits his level of expertise.
Do you want to minimize injury? Then you might choose an algorithm based on data metrics that come in from 4 separate devices and 1 assessment screen.
Understand that the algorithms and data do not run the show
At the heart of this revolution a great coach will understand that the choices and management of this system are under his control. A poorly managed system of devices and algorithms can potentially have a greater negative effect than not using any at all. The ability to choose the most efficient systems for their sport and their team will be an important coaching quality.
In the end, our tools will become increasingly complex, but will allow for more time and effort to be placed in achieving even greater feats.
Ultimately understand their sport more than any coach before
Advances in these technologies will allow coaches to reach a higher level of understanding of the key metrics which drive a team's or athletes performance. Our ability to communicate and share insights will also be enhanced. The community of coaches will learn at an unprecedented level.
See the big picture
At first algorithms will be fragmented. You'll have your injury prevention metrics, specific and unspecific performance variables, psycho-social variables, ect... All in separate products, but gradually this will evolve in to a unified theory. Coaches of the future will understand how these systems fit in to the bigger picture of performance.
Learn from an Online Education platform
Our education system is outdated. Online courses are starting to rival university level education in quality at a fraction of the cost. This trend will continue, and allow access to resources that other coaches never could. A decentralized and low cost education will increase the average level of competence in coaching.
You see, coaching in the future resembles what coaching is today. You have your distinct philosophies in various areas that come together to inform your decision making on a daily basis. These personal models are built upon your experience as a coach, athlete, and from mentors and peers. Your network may span 50 people across your career, involve 10 000 hours of real life experience, and have trialed and erred for many many seasons. The power of the machine is that it can aggregate experience and link networks at an exponentially faster rate. As of October 2016, Google's self driving car had accumulated over 300 years of driving experience, with the ability to share any new insights it gains. Having access to these catalogs of data will only serve to enhance a great coaches skills, increase the pace of learning in those individuals who are thirsty for new knowledge. I for one am excited for what is to come for the coaching profession.
Well I hope this peek in to the future has intrigued you. We are far from this reality but progress is being made and there are some people and organizations doing some really amazing things.
Stay tuned for my next blog post where I will go over in detail my attempt at building a training model for the 300m sprint, leverage genetic insights, and walk you through the season I used this model to drive decision making.
