When a player is traded or released, the term “turn in your playbook” is often used, either practically when he is informed of the decision, or colloquially when the news of the move hits the headlines. The phrase underscores something fundamentally important for many pro and college teams: A sports playbook is the lifeblood for these organizations. Players can be outstanding and coaches can be incredibly motivational, but without a solid, innovative, and well-studied plan, the winning pieces won’t fall into place.
After decades of this focus remaining mostly unchanged, the sports playbook emphasis is evolving—and innovating—at a breakneck pace. The emergence of tablet technology such as the iPad or Surface is revolutionizing how teams design, share, study, and update their schemes. Organizations that fail to keep up will find themselves at a competitive disadvantage. Here are four reasons why you should pay attention to digital sports playbooks:
1. The ‘offseason’ is year-round
There was a time when after players cleared out their lockers following the final game of the season, they didn’t even think about their teams until preseason training camp months later. Minicamps, winter baseball leagues, summer basketball tournaments, and even spring football on the college level changed all that. Team personnel must know the sports playbook year-round, effectively minimizing the concept of an offseason. Furthermore, injuries and redshirts (and, sometimes, suspensions) are no longer a reason to slack off studying. Digital solutions provide continual access to the playbook and offer an easy means to update schemes for players far away from team headquarters.
2. So much data and video
In today’s pro sports environment (and increasingly at the college level as well), everything is filmed and analyzed. Every pitch is broken down a dozen ways, as is every possession, half-court set, power play, and corner kick. Incorporating all this data and video into a paper-based sports playbook is all but impossible. However, tablet-based platforms achieve this goal with ease. A single play can include data on how well it worked against a variety of opponents, video of how it has been run during practice, and footage of other teams running or countering the play.
3. Schemes are more complex
The sports playbook of yesteryear might have been thick, filling a binder up with a couple hundred pages of offensive and defensive schemes, but it lacked the complexity that is simply a given in today’s game plans. And football isn’t the only sport that has ramped up the difficulty level: Basketball and hockey are more strategically advanced than ever before, and even baseball relies on precise scouting data to determine matchups and shift defenses. Tablet-based playbook software not only handles this complexity, but also embraces it. Multiple variations of the same play can be grouped together for easy access. Players and coaches can collaborate to make improvements that can translate to on-field success.
4. Younger athletes
Today’s athletes, well versed in social media and this decade’s technology, may silently balk at a paper-based sports playbook. Yes, they will study the binder, attend film sessions, and try to connect the dots, but the learning won’t be as impactful until they get to practice (and then, more time might be necessary as the players get up to speed). Place the same playbook on a tablet, with advanced options such as telestration and attaching video, and these athletes are more apt to do their homework and learn the plays that will turn them into smarter, more efficient players.
How can a digital sports playbook help your organization?
