Sports use to function purely on the brains of coaches and even some general managers. However, today many sport franchises are building and relying on a team of "brains" especially data scientists.
Here's a wonderful story telling the role of data science in professional sports.
Data Science replacing Coaching Film Studies
What I love most about this story and new trend in sports strategy is my first memory seeing this in action by my head coach in football. My high school head coach would spend hours analyzing film on opponents to catch any advantage that our team could use to win the games when we played our opponents.Example
Specifically, there was one team that had one specific offensive lineman that would position his stance according to the offensive play. If the team was going to RUN the football, then this lineman would position his right foot slightly behind his left foot (although still squared up to block) indicating he was ready to run and block any defensive lineman. If the team was going to PASS the football, then this lineman would position both feet directly squared indicating he was going to sit still and block (i.e. prepare for pass protection which is more reactive in blocking). Our defense captain even called out the play (whether it was a "run" or "pass") which created more confusion and frustration for our opposing team. Clearly, we beat this opposing team when we played them.Rising Potential
In the NBA, we are seeing a lot of the advantages with data science especially with the rising numbers of scoring three-pointers. I'm sure there are other advantages being studied currently but I'm curious to know the defensive advantages which have yet to be highlighted like rebounding.Let's see where else data science will become the "brains" behind the "brawns".
Happy Coding!
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