This semester the Vanderbilt Data Science Institute was given the opportunity to work alongside Women’s Basketball Strength and Conditioning to help them achieve their goal of improving student-athlete athletic performance while reducing sport associated risk of injury. By creating a holistic picture of the athlete’s response to training as well as their physical and mental state we can provide the staff with the information they need to assist in training and program design.
The performance data we have been using comes from Catapult GPS technology, Force Decks dual force plate technology, and Fusionetics assessment protocols. Besides automating the access of data from these sources we also wish to create an effective data visualization tool that assists the coaches in getting all the relevant data. This is where the Dashboard comes into play. The dashboard that we are designing in R will serve as our main reporting tool and is where the strength and sport coaching staff can access the models and data visualizations.
Our students have been designing how this will be created, it will include: drop down filters with the option to compare between individual players or even players to the team as a whole, a data “slider” which controls the time period over which the data being displayed is pulled from and data presentation tools via tables, graphs and models based on data selected. We aim to provide athletic coaches at Vanderbilt a comprehensive tool that allows them to analyze athletic health and performance at a single glance to propel our teams forward.