I’ve been using an app on my Iphone called Ubersense (formerly Excelade) with my athletes and in my own training for about 3-4 months now and I can say that the app is very easy to use and has provided invaluable feedback to everyone who has used it.
I’ve been using the Coach’s Eye app. Similar to Ubersense (which I also have), but a bit better for giving feedback. The fwd/rwnd wheel at the bottom is what makes it so good. http://www.coachseye.com/
Is the feedback with coaches eye better in terms of the video analysis itself (if so can you be specific?) or for giving notes, tips and audio breakdown with-in the video?
The fwd/bkwd wheel at the bottom is what I like most about it because you can pinpoint the exact spot that the athlete needs to work on and show it to them over and over. As far as the tools is concerned, I use the “line” tool to show angles and don’t think having the actual degree of angle is all that necessary. More angle or less angle is what I need my athlete to think about, not exact angle numbers. And the arrow-line tool to show my athletes which direction they might need to focus their efforts on. In truth I probably like it better because I’m used to it. The trimming tool on ubersense is cool though. The apps in general are great for instant feedback, but by the time you use all the fancy tools the workout is half over.
Here’s a quick video with the app. I only use it to correct one thing at a time, but I wanted to show some of the tools I use in general: http://v.coachseye.com/ibta
Note that showing an athlete what you think is wrong or needs to be corrected may not solicit the response you as a coach or athletic trainer desire.
In the crudest example " Run faster" , " use your arms", " don’t slow down", etc…,These are cues I have heard from novice and not so novice coaches from the side lines.
As a coach , you need to find the proper cue to illicit the action ( as well as the proper exercise) to correct what needs to be corrected. Often, a technical breakdown is a result of a training issue. Obsessing over and over again about a particular item in a run may not be an ideal learning tool for athlete the way it might be for the coach. For example. How many times do you have to see your athlete run before you see obvious trends jump out at you that need to be fixed? And, you can not go after each technical item all at once.
An athlete will be hyper sensitive to correcting an issue with his or her run ASAP. Anxiety is not something you wish you introduce ever but analysis such as this might get the athlete thinking too much when you are looking for an automatic response. ( remember the expression " paralysis from analysis " )
While the use of video is invaluable in some ways qbO708 brings up an excellent point and one that must not be ignored.
A video expert might be able to appreciate these comments and give us some reasons why there can be no replacement for the trained coaches eye.
( I think for lifting or drills or smaller broken down parts of the start this would be a very useful tool. The idea I was trying to explain was the importance of " hiding" the learning into a drill so that the thinking becomes automatic and the athlete is not become overwhelmed by trying too hard.)
My comments were not meant to be negative with regards to using this technology but to point out how information is received is as important as how it is delivered.
I agree in regards to over cueing an athlete. I’ve heard someone say “Think twice, speak once.” I pull out the video about once per training session (up to 12 athletes at once in a session), and it helps when athlete think they’re doing what they’ve been cued at, i.e., brush the bar against the body, when really the bar is half a foot away. They look at it and go, “OOOooohhh, I thought the bar was closer than that.” I think for the most part it takes up too much time which is why I don’t use it often. Here’s an article on coaching cues: http://samleahey.com/science-of-coaching-cues/
There’s a section in Key Concepts Elite where coaching cues are written about.
And again, the video I posted was to show the tools I use, not how I use them
