The future of player tracking and choosing the right GPS metrics with Matthew Varley (Lecturer in Sport Science at La Trobe University)

In this episode of the Pacey Performance Podcast, I am speaking to Lecturer in Sport Science at La Trobe University, Matthew Varley. Matthew presented on the Performance MDT webinar recently (which you can watch below) and I really enjoyed his presentation, 'Athlete monitoring in team sports: metrics, methods, and meanings'. Matthew covered a number of topics that have come up on the podcast a number of times but aren't necessarily the sexy points to discuss when it comes to training load monitoring but none the less as extremely important. Thresholds, filtering, dwell times will all be familiar to those working with GPS systems but in this episode, we get into the nitty-gritty.

If you enjoyed this episode with Matthew Varley, you may enjoy these episodes I did with Shane Malone & Shane Mangan, Tom Batchelor and Jack Sharkey who all discussed training load monitoring.

In this episode we discussed...

• Who is Matthew Varley (background, experience and current role)?
• Validity and reliability
  • Why do this?
  • Methods to do this
  • Identifying what is meaningful
    • Company whitepaper vs peer-reviewed research in large stadium vs another source
• GPS tracking
  • Selection of metrics used to monitor athletes
  • Threshold selection
    • How to determine
  • Data filtering
    • Why is filtering necessary
      • How can we filter the data
  • Role of video to understand metric definitions
• Next steps in performance analysis practice and research
  • Adding context to our metrics
  • Integration of physical, technical and tactical data
  • Importance of detailing data quality and analysis techniques
• Player tracking future
  • Rise of inertial sensors for biomechanical outputs

Matthew can be found on Twitter @MatthewCVarley

This episode of the Pacey Performance Podcast is sponsored by Hawkin Dynamics, the team behind the worlds only wireless force plate system. Hawkin Dynamics can be found at hawkindynamics.com and you can follow them on Twitter @hawkindynamics

This episode is also sponsored by IMeasureU. IMeasureU are a world leading inertial platform to precisely quantify body movement and workload metrics in the field. IMeasureU can be found at imeasureu.com and you can follow them on Twitter @imeasureu.

This episode is sponsored by BLK BOX, leaders in performance training equipment & facility design. BLK BOX manufacture and distribute a full range of strength training equipment across Europe from their Headquarters in Belfast, Northern Ireland. BLK BOK can be found at blkboxfitness.com and you can follow them on Twitter @blkboxfitness and Instagram @blkboxfitness.

This episode is also sponsored by Kitman Labs. Kitman partners with leading sports teams to achieve consistent success, on and off the pitch. Over 150 teams across the globe use Kitman Labs' Athlete Optimization System to simplify daily operations and rely on the company's unique analytics to uncover the factors that influence success. You can find Kitman Labs at kitmanlabs.com and on Twitter @kitmanlabs.

Keep up to date with everything that is going on with the podcast by following on Twitter @strengthofsci or visiting strengthofscience.com.

Enjoy

PP