Nine years ago I made the decision to follow my passion. I was going to leave my 9 to 5 (more like 7 to 6 most days!). I was making the leap from a great paying job so that I could give back. My reward was going to be making a difference. I was going to coach! Sayonara desk and computer! I could smell the fresh air already.
My feeling towards my computer at the time
Fast forward 5 years. I was an assistant coach at a Division III college in the Midwest, well known for its academic and athletic strength. The sport I loved surrounded me. I was now in a perfect position to develop young leaders… and where was I spending my time now?
In a desk, in front of a computer.
In years past I may have been analyzing spreadsheets. Now, I am tagging video. Hitting Start. Stop. Labelling. Rewind. And for what? Insight, right? I needed to learn ‘Where does our team need to improve?’, ‘What were the strengths and weaknesses of upcoming competitors?’, ‘Tendencies?’, ‘How do I convey this information to my players?’.
I totally get the importance of knowing the answers to those questions. The part that I never really understood was this: All this information is already there. It’s already on this DVD or hard drive, I just am spending four hours per game (at least!) trying to pull out data that hopefully I can turn into the right insights then hopefully act on them in practice in a way that my players learn, and in my game plan so there is actually a benefit. Well, it didn’t take me long to realize that this was insane. I got into coaching to COACH, not sit in front of a computer. I was missing out, and more importantly, my players were missing out because I wasn’t able to spend enough time developing them.
“That’s the way it’s done” or “It’s a necessary evil” is what I’d often hear from other coaches.
Well, let me tell you what…
Do we still take a crap in an outhouse?
Where is your horse and buggy?
There is a better way. That’s why (fastforwarding to the present) the team here at Impakt has decided to give coaches their life back. Technology can be an amazing thing as long as we use it assist us in what we are naturally great at. We can’t wait to show you how our video software can get you from your raw game film to actions on the field, faster… much faster! What would you do if you were able to do more of what you love?
– Coach Campbell
Photos courtesy of Blackburn Pictures.
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