Suffocated by stats
Should 13-year-old NBA wannabes really be studying spin rates and arc angles?
'We're working with 13 and 14-year-olds on performance metrics'.
At first glance, the words seem innocuous enough. We know that Gen Z is drowning in data. If teenagers playing for amateur teams are using smart watches to monitor the distance they cover during a match, it’s hardly surprising that stats suppliers are analysing the arc of an elite youngster’s missed shot, right?
And, if anecdotal evidence is to be believed, it’s not as though these figures are being foisted upon the next generation of top athletes. The company executive who talked about her organisation’s work with aspiring NBA stars went on to say that youngsters they help ‘expect data’.
But let’s take a step back. Is the 13-year-old staring at an iPad screen covered in shot conversion rates really ready to have his technique evaluated so forensically? Does the use of terms such as ‘performance metrics’ inadvertently create an environment in which enjoyment of sport is subconsciously relegated to second place, before some youngsters have reached puberty? Is an analyst’s precise breakdown of technique matched by the care devoted to communicating with the person playing?
In this week’s edition of The Mind Room, I’ll be looking at whether youngsters’ apparent demand for data should be matched by sport’s supply of information - and how teams can help athletes swamped by stats.
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