Every coach knows the importance of chemistry. Of knowing which players complement each other or which part of the game brings out the best in the team.
For example, coaching staff who work in basketball scouting are aware that chemistry can be a deciding factor in the performance of a team over a season.
Over the years, the vast majority of tools available in Nacsport have been developed after consultation with users. Users guide our development. The importance of chemistry was often a subject raised in these conversations and the Player Connections tool was born as a direct result.
Player Connections was released with Nacsport v5.0 for Nacsport Pro (limited functionality) and Elite (full version). Although, it was initially conceived as a tool for basketball, in reality, it can easily be applied to any sport.
Ok. Let’s get down to business.
What Benefits Are There for Scouting and Video Analysis Work
For many years, in addition to video and video analysis, Excel spreadsheets have been the tool of choice for analysts everywhere.
The Player Connections tool re-enforces and complements the work you have already done with your spreadsheet, as it gives you immediate access to actions which include different combinations of players in your squad.
In other words, and in terms of basketball, you can automatically see which 5 players work best together. Which quintet captured the most rebounds, scored the most three pointers or successfully pulled off the most pick and roll plays. So, during your analysis, you not only record the actions, but also the players on the court at the time.
You will begin to get a clearer picture of the players who understand each other best, those which dominate in defence, the best combinations in attack and, generally, which five are most capable of winning a match.
All this data is now at your fingertips with a couple of clicks in Nacsport.
Subgroups: Automate Your Scouting Processes
Nacsport Elite users can create subgroups within the Player Connections window in the timeline. This helps to automate and save a record of actions between players, allowing you to clearly see the chemistry between them.
To clarify: as well as having a record of the chemistry between all the possible combinations of players in your pool, you can also create subgroups that show, for example, the relationship between your point guard and starting centre. By creating this subgroup, all this information is a simple click away. For every game!
Your video work can then easily be transformed into an eye-catching presentation. So, in addition to being a huge source of information, this tool can gift you more time for field work.
Player Connections in Other Sports
In this article we’ve focused on the origin of the tool, the basketball court. But in truth, the same principles can be applied to any team sport.
Imagine having detailed information on which two strikers complement each other in football. What about hockey? Now you can easily discover which players are best able to defend a penalty corner. Rugby? Handball? Water polo? The same principles apply.
Application in Football
So, let’s concentrate on football for a while. Let’s see how this tool could be applied directly to the football pitch.
Well, you could see how well your wingers connect with your centre forwards in the penalty area. Or how the actions of your striker changes depending on the feed through from midfield. In defence, it could be the interaction of the goalkeeper with the centre back or how a successful counterattack is mounted depending on the team selection.
With this tool, chemistry is easily detectable, and it gives you a source of completely objective information. Scouting an opponent? Player Connections can give you valuable information regarding chemistry in the opposition team and help you form the tactics to successfully counter it.
Honestly, we could easily give you umpteen examples on how this tool could be used in other sports, but we won’t take up any more of your valuable time as we’re sure you want to get to work and try it for yourself!
If you have any questions regarding Player Connections or its application to your particular sport, don’t hesitate to contact us here at Nacsport. As well as our support service at support@nacsport.com, you can also reach out to us through our social media channels.
We’re always happy to help!
