AvidaMetrics, the revolutionary swimming telemetry system developed by Avidasports, was featured in a story in The New York Times. Back in February, I blogged about the announcement that the University of Michigan teams would be the first to use the system. Now, five months later, Michigan is still the only one in the pool.
The New York Times article sheds some light on to why coaches might be hesitant to dive in. In favor of the system, Bob Bowman said that having measurable parameters in a system like this, and being able to give feedback to the athlete is “really powerful.” Although, it was noted that Bowman has not used the system for himself. Mike Bottom, the Michigan men’s swimming coach, said that seeing the data in real time would give coaches a lot more information than just watching their stroke.
On the other hand, Matt Kredich, the women’s coach at the University of Tennessee, “express concerns about the system becoming a distraction” (source).
Overall, it sounds like the coaches consider the system accurate enough, and weren’t scared of the $14,950 pricetag – but “Bowman and Kredich said they want to test it before making the investment” (source).
Understanding that coaches want to check it out for themselves, Avidasports is doing their best to get the system into the hands of coaches. Avidasports VP of Operations, Scott Hedges, was even featured as a speaker at the 77th Annual NISCA Conference and Clinic in Columbus, Ohio, and later attended the College Swimming Coaches Association Conference in Baltimore, MD.
Personally, I don’t see why this doesn’t take off immediately. In the past 2 years, it seems swimming has been clamoring for the latest and greatest technology – then, when coaches finally come face to face with it, they are hesitant. Maybe it’s too much of a good thing. Maybe coaches only want their technological advancement to come in incremental doses: the occasional monofin and maybe an underwater camera.
I think it probably comes down to the investment in the system. Not the financial investment, but the change of routine and behavior. A team must commit to the system in order to get the most out of it. Now you’re changing the pre-practice routine for an entire team: put on your cap, goggles, and sensors. Coaches must take the time to get set up, turn that laptop on and remember to check the computer screen. Changing the practice routine for an entire team seems daunting, but history teaches us that NOT changing with the times is often worse than shaking things up for a little while.
Learn more about the AvidaMetrics system from www.avidasports.com
2 Comments:
I think the reluctancy is that coaches have a certain cockiness to them. To be a good coach, you must have this quality. And to have a machine that can basically surplant a lot of what the coach does with his eyes can be a bit unnerving, maybe subconciously.
If you get a monofin, or a fulcrum, or whatever, the equipment is basically an extension of you. It’s helping the swimmers to understand what you already know and are trying to teach them. This system, however, is taking information from the swimmers and basically telling the coach what they need to relay to their swimmers. In some sense, it reduces a lot of coaching to the ability to read a computer. Obviously there’s still more to it than that, but I feel like this is where the hesitation is. Coaches are nervous that they’re going to get too caught up in the numbers, when clearly there’s more than one way for a successful swimmer to swim their stroke.
Plus, it seems like any electronic swimming gadget ever invented has so many problems that it makes you want to pull your hair out. See Timing boards and touch pads.
I personally am a stats freak, so I would love a system like this. I’m just trying to play Devil’s advocate and surmise why a coach might be reluctant. This would be especially awesome with younger swimmers, or to prove your point to a stubborn swimmer. “See, what I’m telling you is right. The numbers don’t lie!”
From a diving point of view, it reminds me of the TiVo revolution – when dive wells around the country started using video delay systems for instant playback of each dive.
Previously, I’d say up to HALF of a coach’s time was devoted to describing or acting out the dive to show a diver what they just did. Adding a TiVo or other playback system let’s the diver see for themselves – but it still can’t give corrections.
So this system, like a TiVo for divers, can really help you see what is really going on – but it still doesn’t give tips or corrections, it just reports the facts.
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