Sports Science Data Protocol
Sports Science Data Protocol
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Research Protocol
Sports Science Data Protocol
Lorena Martin, PhD*
Former Lakers Director of Sports Performance Analytics, Los Angeles, CA 90089, USA
Corresponding author
*
Article information
Received: October 25th, 2019; Revised: December 2nd, 2019; Accepted: December 13th, 2019; Published: December 13th, 2019
ABSTRACT
Purpose
At the most elite level, even an increase of 1% improvement can make the difference between winning and losing. Sports scientists
can help athletes gain insights that can be the differentiating factor. The purpose of this protocol is to delineate the process from
the identification of key performance indicators to the presentation of the findings for sports scientists. It is designed to provide
chronological steps in efforts to mitigate barriers of collecting data and tracking players as well as to help gain athlete buy-in to
sports science by helping them maximize their performance.
Study Design
The competitive nature of professional sports leads to players, their agents, and teams to seek the expertise in sports performance
areas such as those from athletic trainers, strength and conditioning coaches, physical therapists, nutritionists, and sports psycholo-
gists. However, much of the knowledge provided by these entities typically remain in silos. Thus, the whole picture of the athlete’s
performance enhancement mechanism is not elucidated. This is where the significance of a sports scientist ensues, with the ability
to integrate the data from each of the sports performance areas with the objective of obtaining a complete and comprehensive
picture of the athlete.
Data Collection
This area of collecting data and monitoring athletes is becoming mainstream. As such professional sports leagues have started
to implement privacy rules and regulations on the protection of athlete biometric data. It is important to be aware of the rules
related to wearable technology and athlete biometric data as well as how to go about the process of collecting data from profes-
sional athletes. That is why it is important that care be taken and a protocol be followed to ensure the integrity of data collection
in the field of sports science.
Data Processing and Analyses
Data mining is the extraction of data for the purpose of discovering meaningful patterns, normalization, and the choosing of
statistical models that can help in making data driven decisions. The interpretation and presentation of the data can have a large
impact on the decisions. As such, a protocol should be adhered to.
Conclusion
The following protocol will serve as a guide on how to collect data efficiently and successfully.
Keywords
Sports science; Data protocol; Sports performance; Sports scientists; Load; Professional athletes; Sports teams.
INTRODUCTION the role of the sports scientist comes in, as they can be the con-
necting link between these distinctive areas of expertise, as their
After answering these questions, the focus should shift to the KPIs
and the type of load to be quantified. The terms load and training
load (TL) are typically applied interchangeably and sub-classified as
either internal load or external load. Internal load represents psy-
chological variables such as confidence and anxiety and physiologi-
cal KPIs such as heart rate variability, lactate threshold, glucose and
B. Role is a placeholder for any sports performance expert such as strength coach,
athletic trainer, physical therapist, nutritionist, or sports psychologist to exemplify insulin levels, etc.11 External load is characterized by physical, bio-
the direct line of communication with A. Player and C. Sports Scientist. mechanical, behavioral and environmental KPIs. It is important to
distinguish between internal load and external load and how they
In many instances, due to teams being short-staffed or should be quantified. For instance, many of the KPIs of external
the lack of the role of a sports scientist, teams assign one of the loads such as power output, acceleration, and speed are derived
aforementioned sports performance area experts to try and carry from wearable technology such as accelerometers, gyroscopes,
out the duties of a sports scientist.5 Ideally, there should be a sports magnetometers, and global positioning systems (GPS). Whereas,
scientist staff with expertise to have the ability to be innovative, KPIs of internal loads such as lactate threshold and rate of per-
ask pertinent research questions, and identify key performance in- ceived exertion (RPE) are obtained through either biomarker as-
dicators (KPIs) or metrics that can help maximize athletic perfor- sessments or self-reported questionnaires.12
mance.6 The role of the sports scientist comprises of knowledge
on how to collect, analyze, interpret, present, and secure the data.7 The practical implication of measuring TL is to help the
Furthermore, sports scientists in professional sports teams should sports scientist and training staff better help the athlete by estab-
have the ability to produce distinct reports to players, coaches, and lishing appropriate TL thresholds.13 This will also allow the sports
front office management (general manager, assistant general man- scientist to gain insights into strengths and weaknesses of the ath-
ager, analytics staff).8 lete in efforts to reduce the risk of injury, examine what works for
the athlete, and help them to continue to improve their perfor-
The sports scientist’s first initiative should be to ask ques- mance.
tions,9 for instance: What are the KPIs that would help the athlete’s
Vigor
6
Source: Martin L
Based on the sport, position, and player body composi- reliability typically assessed through the standard error of measure-
tion some variables and KPIs may be more relevant than others. ment (SEM). Other methods include the limit of agreement and
See the table below for a list of variables and KPIs related to sports Bland Altman plots.
performance (Table 1).
It is strongly recommended that the sports scientists col-
It is essential that an adequate background literature lecting data, establish both intra-rater and inter-rater reliability.11
search that includes becoming knowledgeable in the sport of inter- Caution is recommended when choosing reliability assessments, as
est and the metrics to be quantified be performed. This process in- there are several iterations of ICCs (Table 2) based on the number
cludes searching through journals, books, as well as inquiring about of raters or sports scientists as well as the number of athletes that
previous projects that may have been conducted by the team, or- will be assessed and whether absolute or relative reliability will be
ganization, or league.14 This will help in the development of a well- examined.
defined purpose for the KPIs that will be measured, along with the
hypotheses, the purpose of collecting the data on these KPIs and Table 2. Definition of ICCs and Computation Equations
how the findings will be translatable to the athlete’s performance Computation
Designation Model Definition
and overall team’s success.10 Formula
ICC (1, 1) One-way σS2 ∕ σS2 + σ2e MSB-MSW/MSB+
CHOOSING THE WEARABLE/TECHNOLOGY AND random-effect (k-1)MSW
surement is the assignment of numbers to quantify a characteristic ICC (3, k) σS2 ∕σS2+σ2e∕k MSB-MSE/MSB
being assessed, while assessment or test is a tool to make the par- Adapted from Li et al. 20
rationale for collecting the athlete’s data. Remember professional ing players healthy and maximizing their performance.22
athletes are inundated daily with media, autograph requests, and
their own training and performance. Typically, it is rare to find a DATA PROCESSING AND ANALYSES
professional athlete to volunteer to be assessed, although there are
a few exceptions. Many are skeptical because they don’t know what Ideally there should already be a platform in place that has an ap-
is being collected, why, or how their data is going to be used.23 plication programming interfaces (APIs) integration for the tech-
Therefore, these concerns need to be addressed upfront. nologies that will be collecting data and servers that can hold the
data securely.26 A repository of excel built-in from the organization
To address their concerns, it is recommended that the or a commercially available database platform or athlete manage-
sports scientists be familiar with the respective team’s, league’s, or ment system should also be up and running. For example, cur-
organization’s rules and regulations on player health and perfor- rently, many of the professional leagues subscribe to an athlete
mance data. As each league and each organization may differ on management system platform that provides trends and aestheti-
who owns the data, how it will be used and who will have access to cally pleasing dashboards.26 The next step is to make sure to have
the data.22 For instance, if the coaches and front office are going to access to the raw data form and work off a copy of the original
have access to the data, be transparent with the athlete as they have data, and aggregate to a large database. In simple terms combine
a right to know. Ideally, it would be optimal if the team, league, or the datasets from different technologies to a master dataset. This
organization has granted permission to allow the player to choose phase involves data cleaning, processing, and the handling of miss-
whom he wants to show the data to. ing data. Running the statistical analyses will depend on the type
of variables collected and the questions of interest, whether com-
Explain what will be collected and how it will relate to parisons of the athlete to their prior performance or comparisons
their performance. Emphasize that the main purpose of collecting to other players will be performed.27 Statistical modeling is a lot
and analyzing data is to prevent injuries and maximize sports per- more complex and is not the focus of this paper, for detailed de-
formance. Be honest about how the data is going to be used and scriptions of types of analyses recommended based on variables
who will have access. This leads us to the next section. to be collected and research questions, refer to Sports Performance
Measurement and Analytics.6
INFORMED CONSENT FORM
PRESENTATION OF RESULTS
Informed consent forms are basically a contract between the play-
er and the sports scientists detailing how the data will be collected, Data visualization is one of the most important aspects of this
what type of data will be collected, what is the intended use of the process. If the data is not presented in a simple, palatable man-
data, and who will have access to the data. It is a written statement ner then the message and content will be automatically discarded.
granting permission to the sports scientist to obtain the player’s Although it is critical to collect meaningful metrics that are rel-
data for the specified purposes on a voluntary basis.23 If the team, evant to the athlete’s performance, it is just as important to know
league or organization supply a form, implement the form pro- the audience.28 The presentation of the data should be consistent,
vided, otherwise, draft up a consent form that provides at least easy to understand and structured slightly different for each of
the following: rationale for collecting data, assessments that will be the following; players, coaches, and front office management.8 For
conducted along with a short description of each and how the out- example, some may prefer a more detailed report, while others may
comes translate to performance. Also, on the informed consent, be expecting a simple chart or graph.
there should be a space for the athlete’s printed name, signature,
date, and sports scientist’s initials that is providing the informed DATA SAFEKEEPING
consent. There should also be an area that describes who the ath-
lete is willing to grant access to the data.24 Of course, check that Ensuring that the athlete’s data is secure is fundamental to this
this informed consent is compliant with the professional league’s, protocol. Part of the security and confidentiality is included in the
team’s or sports organization’s policy. legislation of The Health Insurance Portability and Accountabil-
ity Act of 1996 (HIPAA).22 It requires health care providers and
COLLECTION OF DATA organizations to protect the confidentiality of protected health
information (PHI), which can also include some if not all of the
If all the prior steps have been completed, this part becomes sim- athlete biometric data. In addition, it covers how the data is han-
ple. Set up a date and time that works well for the players and dled, transferred and shared.29 Furthermore, this phase typically
coaches.25 Make sure that the technology or equipment that is go- involves being knowledgeable about the respective league, team,
ing to be implemented has been tested and retested. Refine the or organization’s rules and regulations as well as collective bargain-
processes as necessary. Try and keep everything similar, from the ing agreements (CBAs) on player health data.22 Depending on the
sports scientist’s demeanor during the data collection process to league, for example, the NBA’s CBA has a provision on wearable
the time of data collection, and situation in regard to whether the data compared to other leagues that do not. Finally, the last step
data collection will take place during practice or games.10 Finally, is to confirm that the data is stored in a safe and secure location.30
keep in mind the end goal of data collection, which is to help make
data-driven decisions that will increase the probability of maintain-
12. Saw AE, Main LC, Gastin PB. Monitoring athletes through self-
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lutions to evidence-based training-load monitoring in elite team
sports. Int J Sports Physiol Perform. 2017; 12(s2): S2136-S2141. doi:
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