Technology in sports? You got it! Technology really is everywhere, even if sports doesn't come to mind first as a field with high technology use and implementation. Staff Writer Eli Kell-Abrams writes about a piece of software used to perfect basketball.
As our society continues to advance itself technologically, we also see some of these developments in the world of sports. Video analysis is become one of the most prominent ways to improve your team and scout your opponent. This process, however, is a long and tedious process that requires hours upon hours of watching and taking notes on repetitive film (which no one has time for). If only there was a way to shorten the procedure; maybe create folders to organize and differentiate between clips, or hone in on one specific play that your opponent runs. Luckily for coaches all around the world, there now is, and its name is Gamebreaker.
Gamebreaker is a game changer and has emerged as the leader in the technologically expanding sports world, primarily in the world of basketball. This new program has been implemented into the locker rooms of over half of the teams in the NBA, along with countless other collegiate programs ranging from Division I to Division III. Two programs in particular that use the program are (DI) Marquette University in Milwaukee, WI, and local DIII giant-slaying Emerson College.
Video Coordinator for the Marquette Women’s Team, Dan Bisaccio, says that Gamebreaker is “invaluable to helping us get better.” The Lady Golden Eagles are currently sitting at 15-7, a record good enough for 5th in the Big East. “It makes it easy for coaches to find instances or plays from any specific game and use it in that day's film session. If we want to scout our opponent, or the top scorer on another team, we use Gamebreaker to break down their game, their moves, their tendencies.” Matt Gibson, graduate assistant under Jim O’Brien for the Emerson College Lions, raved about the program's efficiency. “It’s very time efficient during an incredibly busy season where the entire coaching staff doesn’t have time to watch hours of film. Gamebreaker helps us in preparing for our opponents as well as watching specific things we have done in past games, in order to make adjustments to win.” This new technology seems to be working for the Lions as they have knocked of a #1 (in the country) ranked Amherst team in December, and a #3 ranked WPI team last week.
When breaking down footage with Gamebreaker, you have the ability to sort clips into specific folders; like, say ‘offense’ and ‘defense’. When watching footage of a game, you can select certain clips and divide them accordingly between the two folders. So by the time all the sorting is done, you have two brand new videos sorted evenly with the offensive and defensive clips. It also allows coaches to leave comments on any specific play or highlight one player in order to follow them more closely to make examples. Newer features to Gamebreaker Plus also include advanced coding structures such as button alignment and new analysis features including a full screen timer.