VC ULT Camp is pioneering the use of video technology to help summer camp attendees improve their game.
May 12, 2015 by Ultiworld in Sponsored with 2 comments
This post is sponsored by the VC Ultimate Leadership Training Camp.
“Get lower on your mark.”
“Rotate your shoulders more on your forehand.”
“Don’t commit your hips until your cutter has committed his.”
Ever heard a coach tell you to change something and immediately thought to yourself “I thought I was doing that” or “how do I do that?” or “what does that even mean?” If so, you’re well aware of the limits of using words to communicate physical actions.
Maybe you’ve had a coach “show” you how you execute a skill by trying to imitate your form and then demonstrate some change in your form they want to see. Trying to improve with this type of feedback is like a game of physical telephone, where vital information gets lost in each step of the process.
It’s not that using words or using physical demonstrations is bad coaching. Those are staples for every coach out there. But there are limitations to both. Limitations that VC Ultimate Leadership Training Camp is breaking down by bringing in real-time, individualized video analysis to the fields.
Camp Director Kyle Weisbrod explains: “We’ll be using Dartfish, a state of the art video analysis software used across every major sport, to both further our understanding of best practices in ultimate and help translate that understanding into improvement for our campers. With video and the Dartfish software we can go beyond talking. We can show campers what they are doing, show them how top players are doing it, and let them immediately make adjustments to improve.”
The use of video allows campers at VC ULT Camp to shortcut the words and demonstrations that can leave important feedback lost in translation and empowers players to make direct improvement to their skills.
VC ULT Camp will be using Dartfish for:
– Real time video capture to allow players to see immediately see themselves executing a skill
– Video overlays that allows campers to compare multiple reps at a skill or even see what is different from their execution of a skill against a more advanced player
– Slow motion analysis that can include drawing, object tracking, and other editing so that players can see the details they may miss at full speed
– Identification and analysis of key positions to provide players a better understand what’s happening in the most critical moments of important skills.
Weisbrod raves about the power of Dartfish. “I first encountered Dartfish at a Physical Educators conference around 2005 and I knew then that I wanted to bring Dartfish and in-depth video analysis to bear on ultimate skills,” he said. “We’ve been using video and the software as a tool for University of Washington Element this year and the impact it’s had has been immeasurable. Lauren Sadler, for example, has gone from an inconsistent forehand at medium and long distances to one of the best deep forehands at the college level in just a few months.”
VC ULT Camp’s use of video as a teaching tool is breaking through new barriers by breaking down skills and understanding at the highest level ever. Not only will the camp provide real-time feedback, but campers at VC ULT Camp will get a personalized website where they can access their own videos and use them as reference and improvement after camp is over.
But Weisbrod says what he’s most excited about is “getting to use this tool with the coaching staff that we’ve got coming out to camp. We’ve got many of the best teachers in the game and I believe that these tools will be incredibly powerful in their hands.”
Are you too old for VC ULT Camp but have read all of this envious of kids that could attend camp and get this type of instruction? Fret not, Weisbrod says that DiscNW and VC ULT Camp may be offering remote video analysis services in the not-too-distant future for players of all ages.
