One day it likely will be as indispensable as the whistle strung around a coach’s neck.
At least that’s the game plan for a new software technology being showcased this morning (Wednesday) at the Smart 2000 Conference and Exhibition at the downtown Telus Convention Centre.
“What it is, is a tool to help coaches quickly organize their practices and drills,” says Larry Katz, an associate professor at the University of Calgary who is making the presentation.
In its simplest terms, the software is a recipe box of practices and drills. If you want to teach your high school volleyball team about sophisticated attacks from the left side of the court, just tap into the software and find 20 drills on the technique.
“What the coach does is figure out what he wants to teach at practice and type X, Y and Z into his computer,” says Katz, director of the sport technology research centre in the faculty of kinesiology.
“In our volleyball program we have 400 drills. It takes the coach about five minutes to do and then print it out.”
Armed with his diagrams, notes and clipboard, the practice session is set. In addition, all 400 drills have been videotaped and can be shown instantly on a laptop or projection system.
Katz used volleyball as his software model and that program is now ready for market. The model can be adapted for any sport from football and hockey to gymnastics and speedskating.
Calgary-based Savvy Knowledge Systems Corp. will sell the product worldwide. Savvy has negotiated a deal with Human Kinetics, the giant U.S. publisher of physical education, recreation and sport-related resources to help in distribution. The software will be sold in beginner and advanced volumes for about $49.95 each.
“I like to think of them as designer practices,” says Katz, who spent five years researching the program. The volleyball drills were taken from a book written by U of C colleagues Brad Kilb and Bob Bratton.
“We try to encourage coaches to be organized and to have practice plans, but now we are giving them tools to do it more quickly,” says Katz. “A good coach might have a little breadbox of drills with X’s and O’s but not remember all of them or how they work. The videos instantly show exactly how the drill should be done.”
If a coach and athlete are separated, the coach can e-mail training programs on a daily basis.
Katz says the U of C is also studying applications for another company’s technology he likes to call “real-time coaching.” Using video analysis systems, hockey teams are taped during games. Between periods their play is analysed on a laptop in the dressing room.
“It’s done so quickly it blows people’s mind. It identifies problems or good things. If you’ve scored a powerplay goal, the video shows everyone exactly where they were on the play and what they were doing.”
Or after the game, a coaching staff can do a detailed breakdown and e-mail their analysis to team members overnight.
“It could also be shown to a speedskater who has 20 minutes before their next race,” says Katz. “What it does is give them immediate information to make changes and better decisions.”
