Are we excel sheets or coaches? The rise of data driven coaching and the dehumanization of athletes

In the modern world of sports science, technological advances and new and innovative way to collect and obtain data has revolutionized how we tailor, program and approach athletic development and training. This data ranges from in-depth physiological testing and biometric data to readiness to train questionnaires, and fatigue index scores, the depth of data available to coaches nowadays is immense. The world of sports science has been forever changed as the speed of technological advancements coincides with the coaches ability to analyse data and gain insight in ways that were once unimaginable. In today’s world, we as coaches are able to identify trends, monitor an athlete’s ability to train, delve deeply into key performance markers which in turn allows a coach to access an athletes physical state in an educated manner efficiently and effectively. Before all this data was available to coaches we relied on fostering quality rapport with players, connecting with them, understanding them, and most of all being a coach in all senses of the word. What happens if we loose the very essence of coaching and its deep roots of the personal connection. When was the last time you asked your athlete’s “How are you feeling today?” and coherently and attentively listened to the answer not just asking the question as a formality but actually cared about the answer and the information you received back? So the question I have for you is, are we becoming excel sheets or are we coaches?.

In the ever ending pursuit of optimizing performance and constantly trying to find that extra 1% are we forgetting all the work we done to get here in the meantime which is the art of coaching which in later years has quite frequently taken a back seat to numbers. The focus has quite obviously shifted from the coach-athlete relationship to the data relationship and how good we are at generating R values and our ability to showcase our new and innovative way of displaying data in a fancy post on linkdln. We have reduced athletes to mere data points when in truth we are dealing with intricate, deep and unique human beings.

This blog isn’t questioning the importance of data, it’s quite the opposite it has a crucial part and has brought us to levels unimaginable from a technological point of view but it has to be athlete centered. The importance of building real high quality relationships, engaging in open and honest dialogue, and promoting a sense of trust and vulnerability whilst still maintaining professional integrity seems to be a skill that will soon be lost in coaching. Data should and will always be used, but rather to complement and inform a coaches intuitiveness and understanding of their athlete’s rather than replace it.

The whole field of sport science has made outstanding strides and continues to do so with the ever changing field of technology moving at a substantial rate. Coaches, sport scientists and support staff now have unwavering access to a huge amount of beneficial tools to both quantify and promote athletic performance. Wearable technology such as GPS trackers, heart rate monitors, an on field technology provide real and in-depth data live to coaches. This allows coaches to monitor physiological responses and an athletes workload to identify if capacities and thresholds are being met. Dashboards such as stat sports paint a detailed picture of an athlete’s physiological state through numbers and key performance metrics.

However does gps or rate data tell us if an athlete is in pain? If an athlete is feeling under the weather? If an athlete is “feeling” it? The simple answer is no.

Alongside wearable technology a huge range of software, forms, and questionnaires are being used to track levels of fatigue, monitor soreness, sleep, and overall access an athletes readiness to train. Questionnaires commonly used such as the profile of mood states or recovery questionnaires are ones commonly used In the field of sport science. These are often used to access how an athlete is feeling, their ability to train on any given day, and their own individual recovery status. These questionnaires provide scores for an athlete and can help determine if an athlete Is fatigued, over trained and it helps coaches to make an educated decision based off the data presented to them.

These tools do have value. There is always value in data. It is objective and has no emotion and paints a very clear picture. It is this very reason why we must not lose the personal connection of coaching and the core value of being a top coach is your ability to connect with individuals with complex backgrounds and diverse needs. In an industry that has become dominated with numbers and spreadsheets if we put the same amount of energy into making a fancy spreadsheet that coaches bypass in a WhatsApp group to actually connecting with players and trying to identify what makes them “tick”? would we have better athlete’s? I certainly think so. In a world where technology has become so prevalent the art of asking basic human questions such as “how are you feeling” or “how was your weekend” and actually caring about your athlete might seem like a trivial exercise in today’s coaching world consumed by AI, data and dashboards but it can be just as powerful and impactful as any high tech measurement.

In our major rush to optimize and control every single part of our athletes performance and ultimately their life we must and cannot lose sight of the heart of every single sport- the human connection. we as coaches are more than just an analyst or a scientist we are mentors, we are leaders and we are emotional and spiritual anchors for our athlete’s. Something they can lean on in difficult times and project off in good ones. The life and story behind the data points are as important if not more than any data point we can ever look to analyse. It’s our job as coaches to understand that and to value that.

The best coaches in the world have empathy, listen and have deep rooted trust with all of their athletes and more often than not it’s what sets them apart from the very good ones. A dashboard or a piece of software cannot console an injured athlete or motivate one. A readiness to train questionnaire cant interpret tone of voice or body language. An excel file can’t see the concealed tears in an athletes eye when he has been excluded from a squad. Excel files cannot do any of these things yet they underpin us as coaches to be able to navigate these moments and do the best thing for our athletes and define what true coaching really is.

The best athletes don’t remember specific data points or the specific drills or exercises they did. They remember coaches. They remember people. They will remember the times when you instilled belief in them when you recognized their efforts or when you helped them settle into a new squad. They remember experiences not the excel you send them with their high speed running report. They remember genuine connections and genuine people, who care. Data can never replace that.

The data and numbers give us a snapshot of the athlete’s physical state, but that snapshot does not and never will paint the whole picture. It cannot explain why an athletes performance will suddenly drop off or experience a dip in form. A heart rate monitor cannot tell us the weight of personal issues an athlete may encounter nor can it tell us if they are disinterested, disengaged or frustrated. It is a coach’s job to understand, to dig deeper and identify the underlying cause and not just gloss over treating the symptoms. It’s the coach’s job to see the athlete as a whole person not just a collection of numbers.

The most successful coaches are the ones that see truly beyond the numbers, the raw data files, and all the questionnaires. So before we run to include every new data tool or AI resource to improve performance let’s take a moment to reflect and reevaluate what coaching is really about, the human connection. As coaches it is difficult as we pursue our own careers and our own excellence we cannot lose sight that we work for the athletes to make them better. We are responsible for helping them, we are there for them as people. These are the people who give everything for the sport and the game they love and their not there to help our career or make us progress further up the ladder we are supposed to be there for them. Some part along the way a lot of coaches have forgot that concept.

Athlete’s will always remember the coach who made them feel seen, valued and understood.  

We as coaches must always remember we will not be remembered for our files, or our fancy linkdin posts, or the latest colour coded analysis tool. We will be remembered for how we made athletes feel and the impact we made on them as human beings.