Over the past few years, the NBA has made great advances in statistical analysis, performance monitoring, and wellness tracking. But with far more potential inputs than ever before, there’s a pressing need to capture, aggregate, and centralize all of this player information so it can effectively inform decision-making that improves player outcomes on and off the court. In this article, we explore five key integrations between devices and Smartabase that help NBA teams make the most of their technology investments.
PLAYER READINESS
Technology: VALD and Hawkin Dynamics
VALD’s ForceDecks and Hawkin Dynamics’s HD Force Plates are often used to assess athletes’ ability to generate force and power. While they are utilized in this way in the NBA, G League, and other pro basketball leagues, strength and conditioning (S+C) coaches also use these valuable tools to evaluate player readiness, which becomes particularly important as the season goes on. A tight integration between the leading force plate systems and Smartabase helps NBA performance teams compare players’ current testing data to their historical information. Beyond a certain pre-determined threshold, a significant decrease in a player’s power output can indicate reduced neuromuscular readiness, less muscle fiber recruitment, and an overly-fatigued central nervous system that could compromise their output on game day.
SLEEP MONITORING
Technologies: Oura Ring
Integrating Sleep information into Smartabase makes it easier for coaches to spot when a player’s recovery numbers have deviated too far from their normal baseline. A poor night’s sleep now and again is unlikely to have much of an impact on the court or in the gym, but if a player is consistently getting inadequate rest, their performance will be compromised, and they will become more susceptible to injury and illness. Similarly, low HRV and/or high resting heart rate during inactivity can indicate that a player is either being overloaded or is under-recovering.
PLAYER TRACKING
Technologies: Kinexon and Second Spectrum
Individual game stats can provide a snapshot of how each player performed in all four quarters of a basketball game through data sets like Second Spectrum’s speed-load table. But it’s when this information is combined with data from practices and previous games that the performance staff can more accurately monitor load across the entire season, or even a player’s whole career. Such a holistic view gives coaches the ability to assess side-by-side comparisons of individuals who play the same position so they can make more informed decisions about the best lineups to use in certain game situations. The S+C coaches can see which players have been exposed to the highest loads during games, and those that haven’t received enough.
STRENGTH & CONDITIONING
Technologies: TeamBuildr and BridgeAthletic
Pulling strength and conditioning data from TeamBuildr or BridgeAthletic into Smartabase makes it easier for S+C coaches to analyze each player’s information with greater context. Combining an up-to-date record of everything that happens in the weight room with data points from practice, games, and off-court recovery provides a more well-rounded view of the athlete, enabling staff to create all-in-one reports for the head and assistant coaches so that they can see how well each member of the roster is progressing.
INJURY REDUCTION/STRENGTH MONITORING
Technologies: KangaTech and VALD
NBA performance staff can utilize the KangaTech KT360 and VALD ForceFrame for strength monitoring and to identify factors that can indicate elevated injury risk. If a player is already hurt, such systems are useful for deciding when they’ve regained certain functional capacities and can be cleared for the next stage in the return-to-play process. When either system is integrated with Smartabase, S+C coaches and members of the medical staff can view players’ historical data and see if they notice any meaningful patterns.
There has never been a better opportunity to unite what occurs in basketball games, practices, strength and conditioning sessions, and recovery. The Smartabase integrations detailed above combine to offer teams a more complete picture of each player and the team overall so coaches can maximize performance potential and improve overall wellness. To learn how Smartabase can help your team make the most of it's tech investments, contact us today.
