Which Tackle Football Analytics Are Most Important to Coaches?
Author: Dave Grendzynski
The tackle football season is long and it can be grueling. But more and more coaches are starting to rely on sports analytics to keep their players fresh and injury free. Teams that are trusting the data (and the advice that their sports data analysts provide) are seeing their players’ availability increase and a decrease in even the most common football injuries.
So, let’s look at the metrics that matter most to football coaches and trainers, and how you can start collecting the data that can improve your team’s performance.
When it comes to injury prevention and player performance, coaches and trainers focus on a range of analytics for tackle football.
The goal is to extract meaningful insights to make more informed decisions about players and strategy. Everything from load management to end-of-game play-calls may be influenced by some type of sports data.
And while the term “sports data analytics” encompasses various sports, it is important to note that each sport, such as football, has its distinct set of metrics that coaches prioritize and closely monitor. And the data is collected through various sources, including:
- Player-tracking
- Sensor-based data
- Video analysis
These data sources provide detailed information about player actions, team dynamics, game situations, and performance outcomes. The information is collected with the same goal in mind — prevent injuries and win games.
Interested in learning more about player tracking for tackle football?
Start By Identifying Metrics That Matter to Your Staff
It’s important to note that specific metrics of interest may vary based on several factors including:
- Coaching staff’s philosophy
- Team goals
- Available resources
When compiling your list of metrics, you and your staff should talk about what you want to analyze.
You will look at various aspects of athletic performance, team strategies, player evaluation, and other related factors. But everyone should be on the same page.
Analytics Commonly Prioritized by Tackle Football Coaches and Trainers
Here are some of the key sports analytics that are commonly prioritized by tackle football coaches and trainers:
1. Player Workload: Coaches and trainers monitor the workload of players during practices and games. This includes:
- Tracking the number of repetitions
- Practice duration
- Intensity levels
Load management helps prevent overexertion and reduces the risk of fatigue-related football injuries.
2. Injury History Coaches and trainers keep a record of players’ injury history, including the type, severity, and frequency of past injuries.
This information helps in designing personalized training and rehabilitation programs, identifying injury-prone individuals, and implementing preventive measures.
3. Player Wellness/Health Monitoring: Coaches and trainers employ various technologies and monitoring systems to assess players’ overall wellness and health. This may involve tracking factors like:
- Sleep quality
- Heart rate variability
- Hydration levels
- Body composition.
By monitoring these metrics, they can identify early signs of fatigue, stress, or potential health issues, allowing for timely interventions.
4. Strength and Conditioning Metrics: Studies show that coaches and trainers track metrics related to players’ strength, power, speed, and endurance. This includes measurements like:
- Maximum weight lifted
- Vertical jump height
- Sprint times (acceleration and deceleration)
- Conditioning test results.
Sports performance software helps evaluate physical performance and progress, ensuring players are adequately conditioned and prepared for game demands.
5. Movement Quality and Biomechanics: Coaches and trainers focus on assessing players’ movement quality, biomechanics, and technique. This can involve:
- Analyzing video footage
- Using motion capture technology
- Conducting functional movement assessments
Identifying inefficient movement patterns or biomechanical flaws can help prevent injuries and improve performance through targeted corrective exercises and coaching.
Using GPS tracking devices and player tracking systems, coaches and trainers gather data on any number of factors, including:
- Players’ speed
- Distance covered
- Acceleration
- Deceleration
- Changes of direction.
These metrics provide insights into workloads, fatigue levels, and movement patterns during practices and games.
Analyzing this data helps manage training loads, optimize recovery strategies, and identify potential injury risks.
6. Sports Performance Metrics: Tackle football coaches and trainers can also focus on performance metrics specific to player positions, including:
- Quarterbacks’ completion percentage
- Passing yards
- Touchdown-to-interception ratio
- Running backs’ yards per carry
- Rushing touchdowns
- Receivers’ receptions
- Receiving yards
- Yards after catch (YAC)
This kind of data helps evaluate player effectiveness and improve game strategies.
7. Functional Testing: Coaches and trainers use functional tests to assess players’ physical capabilities and readiness for competition. These tests can include:
- Agility drills
- Speed tests
- Strength assessments
- Balance/stability evaluations.
Results from functional testing help identify areas of weakness or imbalances that may increase injury risk and guide targeted interventions.
The availability of advanced technologies has significantly expanded the possibilities and impact of sports analytics in recent years.
Kinexon Provides Tackle Football Analytics with PERFORM GPS PRO
At Kinexon, we continually strive to combine technology and sports science to introduce new metrics and tackle football data. By using monitoring tools to enhance injury prevention and optimize player performance we continue to innovate the game.
The KINEXON PERFORM GPS Pro is a sensor network that collects real-time data and sends it directly to the AWS cloud, which allows you to access it immediately from your laptop, desktop, or smartphone.
Our sports performance software works flawlessly outdoors and without causing any disruptions to Wi-Fi or other systems.If you’d like to learn more about KINEXON PERFORM GPS Pro or some of the other sports analytics software that we provide, please contact us.
The University of Alabama-Birmingham football program has enjoyed two consecutive winning seasons since its’ trainers started using a GPS-based player tracking system.
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