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DataVolley Professional Full-Season Report | May 2016
Introduction
I have written about my initial experience using DataVolley and a mid-season report. The season is now over for Polonia SideOut London so now I can write a full season report on DataVolley.
Things I Have Learnt
Overcoming the issues I had mid-season. When I read the issues I had mid-season, I don’t get them any more. may come up again at the beginning of the new season when I encounter new players but I just have to remind myself of that. I have scouted enough matches with to be used to it. I haven’t consciously made an effect to check the or the but I haven’t run into those issues either.
Built new analyses. There were two new analyses that I built in the print composition. The first was the attack directions by rotation by player. It was something similar the GB Men’s Scout used. I’m not sure if I like it because I don’t usually see any patterns by rotation. I may create another one that’s organised by attack zone (through 4, through 2 etc). The second analysis is attack distribution by situation. I was able to solve how DataVolley recognises V3 as middle attacks. I found this analysis useful but I may split them up when the setter is in the back row and when the setter is in the front row. After a perfect reception, you expect a balanced distribution between the outside hitter, middle blocker and opposite to be roughly 33% each when the setter is in the back row but roughly 50% between the outside hitter and middle blocker when the setter is in the front row, since the opposite is not there. However, it is hard to know whether the distribution is balanced when you include all of the rotations. So by splitting the situations up, you can clearly see if the distribution is balanced.
Scouting attack typeI have started to scout the attack type most of the time, whether it was a tip (T) or a soft/ roll shot (P). I still have to look at the keyboard to find the T and P keys though.
Scouting custom data for highlights/ analysis purposes. When editing the National Cup Final motivational video, I discovered a way to scout highlight clips. I add “X” in the custom section of the code and then I could create a montage of clips in DataVideo that includes all codes with the “X” in it, i.e. all of the highlight clips. I could also use another letter for analysis purposes. The only thing I will do differently is not use the letter “X”. This is because I cannot use “X” in the code window because is it being used for another code.
Set the laptop’s power plan to “balanced” rather than “power saver”. I used to have it at “power saver” mode so save on battery. However, when I have to update the scout or undo the last action, this action could take up to 30 seconds to complete. In live scouting terms, this is an unbelievable long time and enough to miss a rally or two. In “balanced” mode, these actions only took a couple of seconds.
MORE THINGS TO DOScout more specific data. This was one thing I intended to do but I didn’t get around to it. The attack combination (i.e. distinguishing between shoots, quicks and slides) is more important than service direction but I can learn both. I will probably practice this during the next Sainsbury’s School Games or maybe during the All Nations Tournament.
Test the alternative attack directions scout. You can scout attack directions in two different ways. The origin of the attack is the same but the difference is the attack landing zones, which can be seen below. I currently use the nine equal zones because it was how I was first taught and it was probably easiest to learn. However, I want to try out the second attack landing zones. It may be more useful in finding attack tendencies. I’m not sure how tips will be worked on or shoots/ slides for middle players. Again, this could be practiced during the Sainsbury’s School Games or All Nations Tournament.
Build new analyses/ modify current analyses. One modification is to the main player stats table. The attack stats are all of the player’s attack attempts. However, I want to distinguish it from attacks after a set and other attacks such as attack from an overpass or setter tips. You expect attacks from an overpass to be highly successful and this can muddle the attack stats. Also, if I can see how well players are hitting after a set, I can better advise the setter how to distribute the ball. I also want to build a table showing players’ attack stats by zone. I can find this out via a player’s attack directions but I can only view this one player at a time, making comparisons difficult. DataVolley client. This is another thing I still need to learn so at least the Head Coach can have a look at it. Have a print-out. I find that during the Play-Off Final that the Head Coach and captain would look at a print out of the official stats. There is something about having a physical piece of paper that makes you look at it rather than a pdf. It would be useful to be able to print out a match report so the Head Coach can review it for a minute between sets. This would mean buying a portable printer (would it fit in my already full bag?) This would be useful for tough matches.
Buy a higher capacity SD Card. I have a 16GB SD card which is enough to record 2 hours and 8 minutes at the highest quality. This is enough for four sets but not five. A normal quality does allow me to record 2 hours and 48 minutes. However, this makes a difference in quality when I combine the various video files into one for DataVolley and to upload on YouTube. So buying a higher capacity SD card should overcome that.
Investing in a new camcorder. When my camcorder records matches, it will break them up in separate video files of around 44 minutes/ just under 4GB. I would combine those files into one when I get back home. This takes around two hours. Once it is complete, it is then I can fact check the scout against the video in DataVideo. When the play-off final match ran into five sets, I wasn’t able to record all of it because of SD card capacity issue. The statisician at Team Northumbria helped me out by giving me his video. I find out was his camcorder was able to record the match in one video file of a reasonable size (3GB). This was extremely useful because it meant I was be able to check the scout straight after the match and print out the match report soon after. This is something I should look into so I can complete the match report on the same day as the match.
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