Caveats – Sports Analytics
Gautam Banerjee
[email protected]
The term analysis in sports refers to many aspects, but as soon a Performance Analysis is mentioned many
people instantly think ‘statistics’.
With so much emphasis placed on this it would be interesting to assess the true value of statistics in sports. For
example is it a possible to look at a player’s statistics and use them to determine the future for that player? If this
is the case how would this impact on the player? Would statistical manipulation come into play from the club to
make a player appear more valuable? Statistics are currently used in the world of sports to determine a player’s
performance and to assess whether they have met individual targets during game play.
Some clubs also have this technology for the young squads including teams such as under 9’s, 10’s etc. With this
technology being widely available to younger players this could raise the question as to whether the data
captured could be invested too early in a player’s career. It is common knowledge that people develop at
different times and the introduction of this technology could hinder a player’s future because they have not
reached their developmental peak at perhaps the same time as another. There is much debate about using sports
performance technology with young people as some believe it can cause a detrimental effect not only in
performance but from a personal psychological point of view.
What if we could have predicted how successful Baichung Bhutia would be in the game of football? Or more
recently Virat Kohli in cricket? Could we have picked up their stats from their clubs and seen some indication of
how successful they would become? Would Beckham’s stats dictate a high success rate with freekicks or
successful crosses? Obviously this would not be enough to determine that a player will make it, but is this some
indication? Usually in every game of sports every bit of detail is important and if there is any chance that early
detection via statistics could be a useful vehicle this could give clubs a lot of power over their players.
The problem that could arise as a result of this could be the impact this has on the players who are not reflected
well in their stats. What if at the time of review that player has not peaked? Will the contract be terminated
because the club is too hasty or too reliant on numbers?
It is highly likely that there are some indicators in Performance Stats regarding if a player will make it, but much
more research is required to look at factors that cannot be measured with performance tools. These include social
factors, family environment and perhaps even the mental toughness of the player. Sport truly is a numbers
game and a lot can be achieved by this if they are used in an appropriate and efficient way.
Analytics Brio 3