At last month’s KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, I noticed a geeky theme at the practice range. Many of the professional golfers had a smartphone or tablet propped up either behind them or directly in front, allowing for immediate playback and analysis of their swings on the devices.
This practice of recording oneself is becoming more and more common in sports as an easy, efficient, and affordable way for athletes to improve their technique. One company has positioned itself alongside this trend and is helping several coaches prepare Olympic athletes for Rio next month.
Coach’s Eye is an app developed by Lansing, Michigan-based TechSmith that provides real-time feedback via video analysis and helps coaches train athletes remotely.
Mike Kujansuu, a marketing manager for Coach’s Eye who first joined TechSmith in 2003, told GeekWire that the technology was originally created in 2011 to provide instant visual feedback for athletes in-person. But recently the company added features allowing athletes to record themselves with various devices and have a coach in a completely different location provide feedback.
“As technology has progressed and athlete needs have increased, we’ve developed an anytime, anywhere mentality towards coaching,” he noted.
The end result is an app that combines video review with analysis from coaches — this includes written words and voice-over narrations — which “helps athletes make the cognitive and physical connections needed to rapidly improve their performance,” Kujansuu said.
Kujansuu added that his team is focused on helping athletes and coaches gain benefit from Coach’s Eye in the shortest amount of time possible.
“A perfect example of this is our direct integration with GoPro cameras to reduce the number of steps and amount of time it takes to analyze videos filmed with those cameras,” he said. “Focusing on things that save time and headaches for coaches ultimately speeds up the feedback and improvement process for athletes.”
Jeremy Fischer, a USA Track & Field Jumps coach, told GeekWire that he uses Coach’s Eye regularly with his iPhone or iPad Mini. He said it creates a system of “checks and balances” with his athletes.
“I can instantly show athletes their form and technique to eliminate disagreement and confusion,” he said. “This includes everything from the angle of their shin when they start their approach for a jump to the depth of their squat in the weight room. Sometimes l even review videos and discover that my original assessment was wrong.”
Daniel Camargo, a women’s head coach for USA Weightlifting, also touted the immediacy of Coach’s Eye, while noting that the technology “helps take my verbal corrections to visual corrections.”
“Most people are visual learners and if they can see what it is I describe it tends to help them develop faster,” he said. “Technology helps illustrate the science behind sports which gives the athlete a better understanding of what the coach is trying to get them to do.”
However, Camargo cautioned that coaches must think about balance when using technology to help improve the performance of their athletes.
“I feel technology is a great tool and should be used frequently, just not depended on,” he said. “Nothing can replace the keen eye of the coach and the mental connection between athlete and coach.”
Fischer echoed that sentiment, saying that coaches who understand the benefits and limitations of technology “are the ones who will be able to take their coaching to the next level.”
Coach’s Eye has separated itself among a throng of other companies promising to help athletes with their innovations. Even though there are several options to choose from, many athletes say they haven’t found technology that really helps improve their performance.
Los Angeles Clippers owner Steve Ballmer touched on this point at our inaugural Sports Tech Summit last week in Seattle, noting the disconnect between athletes and new technology
“I don’t think anybody has come up with technology that athletes particularly think will help,” he said. “It’s not like there aren’t some uses of technology — don’t get me wrong. On the other hand, if you said, ‘what is it that the athletes believe in that they must do?’ You’re not going to find much.”
Kujansuu, though, is optimistic about the intersection of sports and tech, and the benefits for athletes as a result.
“The sky’s the limit,” he said. “With the breadth and depth of wearable technology, the sports tech space is exploding with new ways for athletes to have a (better) understanding about how they are performing, both physically and mentally.”
